The snow falling last week and melting this week has me in the mood for Spring to be here. NOW. Since I don’t have control over the weather, I though I would focus on what I can control and that is planning for this year’s garden. A few things will be different this year from last.
First the things that won’t be back this year: I am finally giving up on corn. I can’t grow it better than I can buy it from the farmers market, so why bother. I am also not going to try to start tomatos and peppers from seed this year. It was a good experiment last year and I did get plants, but I suspect they were a little less hardy than they would have been if I had gotten them from the nursery. I am also going to pare back to only a few cucumber plants. Just enough for salads since I put up enough pickles and relish last year to last a few years.
Now for the old favorites that will be back this year: I am really looking forward the asparagus and strawberry beds coming in this year. They are both in raised beds and really came in through the fall, so I expect to have good yields from both. The Kale and Collards have both weathered the winter well and I expect the same plants to come in this year. I’ll be doing bush beans, peas, several types of squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, blue and gold potatoes (this year I am trying to tire method) and eggplant.
Lastly the newbies this year: I grew beets last fall but this will be the first time I am trying them in the spring. I also had really good luck with the Mesclun mixes and this year am expanding to include spinach and aruglua. I am also adding a rhubarb bed in one of the raised beds I nitrified last year with some beans, so I expect it to come in well. Lastly I am trying to tomatillos as there are just too many good recipes that include them.
I will be getting some seeds started in doors this week and will have them in the cold frame in a few weeks. First tings go in the ground March 15th – that’s less than a month a way! I feel warmer already.
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