Garden Dreaming…

29 degrees - 9:52 am - cloudy...

This time of year, what could be better than sitting in a comfy chair, warm and snug inside with nearly a foot and a half of snow blanketing the backyard and looking through new seed catalogs, dreaming and planning for the new season of growth?

I’ve started flipping through those shiny, colorful pages full of pictures of ripe fruit, veggies and herbs, and pouring over tiny type.  A new growing season is like a clean slate – the chance to start over… and it all starts with the seed catalogs!

Last year our garden was a flop.  The snow hung around until almost the end of April and we just had too many other projects on our plate to get around to the garden.  So in the end, we ended up doing a mini garden with only a few herbs (kids choices). 

this was the extent of our garden last year - green onion and sweet basil

So after such a non-existent garden last year, I have really high hopes for our garden this year.  Our project list is still really long, but I am determined to have an actual garden this year!  With the way the world is these days it seems to be less of a lifestyle choice and more of a necessity.

We are looking to make the “right” decisions and “optimize our prospects for success”.  So far we have the location of the vegetable garden picked out (finally!).  It will have to be completely fenced in to keep the deer and other critters out.  We will be making raised plant beds with graveled pathways in between.

Now that I have flipped thru the catalogs and made my ‘Garden Wish List’, it is time to plan out the garden.  What grows best next to each other (aka Companion Planting)… how much do we really want to grow of that particular item… how much space with everything need… etc…

‘Garden Wish List’ for this year:

Blueberries, Carrots, Corn, Cucumbers, Garlic, Green Onions, Lettuce (several varieties), Parsley, Potatoes, Pumpkins, Raspberries, Red Onions, Rhubarb, Strawberries, Squash, Sweet Basil, Tomatoes, Walla Walla Sweet Onions, and Zucchini.