The weekend officially marked the beginning of garden season. Yes, it’s a real season … well, to me it is. It may be a cold, dreary winter day outside, but thoughts of warm weather are alive and well inside.
Leading up to this day I consulted gardening resources, flipped back and forth in the calendar counting days, made lists and even created a detailed, color-coded spreadsheet. Seriously, who doesn’t like a nice spreadsheet? Between you and me when it comes this gardening stuff I still feel like I have no idea what I’m doing, but this spreadsheet makes it look otherwise.
What was on tap for the “kick-off” weekend? Onions, eggplant, cabbage and Brussels sprouts. In a couple of weeks it’ll be time for the peppers to get their start, followed by the tomatoes and tomatillos a couple of weeks later. Oh, I’m giddy with anticipation. I still find it all so exciting.
I have a huge plan for this year. Of course whether or not all my vegetable garden dreams come true depends on my skill, the weather, and a whole lotta luck. I am determined to not have a repeat of the great seedling disaster of 2012. Yeah, last year I forgot to water the little babies and they never fully recovered.
Here’s what I have on tap for this year:
- Blue Lake Bush Beans
- Jacob’s Cattle Beans
- Muscade Carrots
- German Giant Radishes
- Hot Peppers: Cayenne, Chinese Five Color, Chocolate Habanero and Black Hungarian
- Sweet Peppers: Spanish Mammoth, Jimmy Nardello, Sweet Antigua, Golden Marconi
- Blue Curled Scotch Kale
- Fordhook Giant Swiss Chard
- Rocky Top Lettuce Mix
- Diamond Eggplant
- Tomatillos: Purple and Verde
- Tomatoes: Comstock Sauce ‘N Slice, Tonadose Des Corones, San Marzano Lungo No. 2, Black Cherry
- Fordhook Zucchini
- Southport White Globe Onions
- Red Acre Cabbage
- Catskill Brussels Sprouts
- Quinoa
- Assorted Herbs
- … and this year’s experiment: American Melon
I know it looks like a lot, but I only grow a few plants of each item. While most things grow in my heavily guarded raised beds, I decided this year to throw things like onions and quinoa in a few empty flower beds. They aren’t typically on the menu of the local critters so I figure why not use the empty space for edibles.
What are your garden plans for 2013? What are you growing?