The Most Exciting Time of the Year

 

As a gardener, I find late winter and early spring to be the most exciting time of the year.  The days are getting longer.  The sun is starting to shine more.  The snow has melted and the birds are starting to sing and migrate back.  And, finally, after months of reading gardening magazines, visualizing how the garden will look, convincing myself that this year the garden will be better than any previous years’ gardens, and deciding what plants I will grow, it’s time to order the seeds.

In the past, I tried starting my herbs, tomato, and pepper plants from seed but the plants did not do as well as the store bought plants; even though,  I had grow lights and researched the best techniques for starting plants from seed.  Therefore, this year I will be buying those plants from the local garden center instead of trying to start them from seed.  I’ll probably attempt to start them from seed again next year.

I like to use the Square Foot Gardening method outlined in Mel Bartholomew’s All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space. This method involves using groups of 4’x4’ raised boxes that are separated by square feet.  I also try to use organic techniques in my garden and grow as many heirloom varieties as possible

I have a total of 128 square feet of garden space available but will only be able to start off using half that amount of space this spring because the other half of the square foot boxes are in a shady area of the yard. I plan to move those boxes in the middle of the summer, so I am not counting on this space until the fall.

This year, I will be growing:

• Carrots—(Danvers Half Long)
• Eggplant—(Orlando)
• Flowers—mostly marigolds in the vegetable garden but will grow geraniums, petunias and other plants on the patio
• Green beans—4 square feet of pole beans (Kentucky Wonder) and 8 square feet of bush beans (Tenderpod)
• Herbs— whatever varieties are available at the local garden center of: basil, lavender , marjoram, oregano, parsley (curly leaf), parsley (flat leaf), rosemary, sage, and thyme
• Lettuce—3 varieties (Green Star, Simpson, and Red Sails)
• Onions—(Copra Plants)
• 8 pepper plants— whatever varieties are available at the local garden center of: bell, banana and jalapeno
• Potatoes—(Russian Banana)
• Radishes—(Crimson Giant)
• 4 tomato plants—2 big beefsteak type and 2 cherry type
• Winter squash—(Honey Bear)

I just placed my seed order today and this month I will start getting the beds ready for planting the early crops; such as, the onions, potatoes, radishes and lettuces. Of course, right now it seems like there is plenty of time to get ready for the last frost day, but I always find that the day has a way of sneaking up on me, and then I’m running around trying to do everything in a couple of days. This year will be different, I think!