What to do, when you gotta move

Our moving boxes

This is a problem that faces most veggie gardeners at least once in their career; especially because the high-season for real estate clashes with prime gardening time. What to do when you have to move part way through the gardening season. Except not moving, and not gardening; neither are legitimate options.

Start Early Crops

Depending on when you are moving, you may still have enough time for a few quick crops. Things like lettuce, cauliflower, beets all do best in cool weather By starting early indoors and taking advantage of early season extenders (like row covers) you can get at least a little something out of your garden before you move. Plus, if you leave a prepared garden behind, you may ignite the garden bug in the new home-owners.

Transplant Smart

We're moving in June, and Ottawa doesn't get warm until June. So when it comes to squash and other warm-weather crops I'm not losing any time and I'll start those plants the same time I normally would.

Count back from your move date and pretend it's your frost date. You'll probably want to give yourself an extra week after you move so you've got time to unpack before you have to transplant. If you've got to put your garden in as well, you may need to give yourself even more time.

Use rubber-maid/storage containers with lids to start your transplants in so you don't end up with soil all over you car's carpet when you have to move them. 

Don't let your plants get leggy. Veggies like squash and tomatoes can become fragile and unhealthy as they grow too large in small pots. It's best to keep them a little on the small size for the move.

Short Season Crops

This may be a good year to invest in some shorter season crops. You may not be able to find them at your local garden shop if you live in the south (most garden shops only stock for the zone they are in) but there are lots of online seed shops you can order from. Just because something is for a shorter season doesn't mean anything about heat tolerance, so you need to research. By choosing shorter season crops you'll be able to squish your veggies into the time you do have available, and you can use them in other years for succession planting.

Contain It

If you're moving right in the middle of your season, this may be the answer for you. Choose light-weight containers that will be easy to move, and varieties that do well in containers. Luckily there are varieties of almost every vegetable tailored for container growing, including miniature corn and pumpkins. For moving day you may want to stake your plants & plastic wrap to cover the soil.

Raise it Up

You can purchase pre-made raised bed containers, adding that with the price of soil this may be a pretty expensive option but it does mean you could have a ready-to-go garden in an afternoon.

Let's Make a Deal

Talk to your Realtor; some sellers would be amicable to letting you on the property for at least a day just to turn up your soil and create a vegetable garden. This obviously varies greatly by personality & situation but if that's your only options it's not going to hurt to ask.