March is the start of our gardening season. Even though it is too early, in our area, to plant much this is when we start to clean up and prepare the garden beds for spring and summer planting. So when I woke up to this one March morning I was a tad disappointed. We had garden boxes to build and fill, a chicken coop to rework and expand and the weather had a different idea.
So I figured this would be a good time to do one of my spring projects that I really enjoy, yet tend to put off.
Planning the Gardens and ordering seeds.
So I gathered seed catalogues and got out my box of seeds and went to work.
Planing the garden this year is a bit of a different job, we are adding 100 square feet of new garden boxes and I have to figure out how to fill them with yummy veggies to eat this summer and hopefully to store this winter.
We are doing a lot of the basics, zucchini, cabbage, tomatoes, kale and adding a few new things, rutabaga, celeriac root and cauliflower. I also ordered a few twists on old favorites such as: Apollo Broccoli (a small leafy variety) and Russian Red Kale.
On of the nice things about square foot gardening it the ease of planning what to plant where and how much to plant, it is nice to see it all laid out.
From start to finish it took about 3 hours to plan and order and at the end of it all I am excited and satisfied. Now, all I have to do it wait for those boxes of seeds to arrive, and for it to get warm enough to plan them all!
What are you planting this year? Something new?
I planted celery last fall(our seasons are different here in AZ) and it is so fun to go out and cut some for stews/salads! That was my new experiment last year. But it will fry in the upcoming heat so I'm waiting for the dehydrator I ordered to dehydrate some. I'm having BIG problems this year with birds eating my newly sprouted seeds. UG.
I want to do beets and kale this year. And tomatoes, of course.
I am adding beets, Kolrabi, Cauliflower & eggplant this year! Last year I tried lots of different varieties of squash and zucchini it was really fun to try the different squash! I also tired potatoes & onions last year and that didn't go all that great so I am leaving those out for this year and maybe try again next year!
We have planted:
Strawberries
Blackberries
Peaches
Potatoes
Snow Peas
Buttercrunch Lettuce
Red Leaf Lettuce
Salad Mix
Spinach
Tomatoes
Asparagus
Cilantro
Parsley
Lavender
Mint
We will plant:
Zucchini
Carrots
Parsnips
Watermelon
Cantaloupe
Peppers
Lima Beans
I'm sure there's more. I have all summer to cultivate, and I plan on working hard!
I;m putting in more fruit (pears, cherries, black berries, and more peaches) and maybe an almond. I've got to rototill the whole mess in and start over. After the chickens unloaded my raised beds, its been a mess out there. So I'm tilling in the pea gravel and all my lovely soil, relaying the beds and starting over with new soil. But the sooner I do it the sooner we'll be back in business. Plus I'm starting a kitchen garden for wheat grass and greens. I go through about 2 obs. of greens per week. I finally settled on the plan found in Ann Wigmore's Sprout book
Apartment dwelling has got me bummed for garden season. At least we are in a good area for gleaning. My growth this year will be limited to containers, so I'm planning on window box herbs (Basil, cilantro, chives, dill, and parsley) as well as a potted tomato plant, a strawberry plant, and maybe a jalapeño… I'm hoping I can talk my parents into planting some beets and cucumbers for us, but they live 45 minutes away, so they'll have to do most of the work.