Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Preliminary Garden Plans

So I've been blogging about gardening an awful lot lately. That's because it's seed-starting season around here. So I'm jumping on board the bandwagon and getting things ready for the best garden ever.
I went seed shopping last night and things are starting to get awesome. We're still trying to get our housing situation settled, but we have it narrowed down to 2 pretty good options, both of which involve having a big back yard to plant in, so I'm starting the grow-op despite the fact that I am not really sure where I'll be planting this year.
Here's what's on the menu at Maison Farias this summer:
Corn,
Peas,
Beans,
Radishes,
Onions,
Shallots,
Potatoes,
Strawberries,
Leeks
Cucumbers (both large and pickling)
Spinach,
Rhubarb,
Okra,
Zucchini,
Pumpkin,
Tomatoes
Watermelon,
Cantaloupe,
Eggplant,
Sunflowers,
Hot Peppers,
Sweet Peppers,
Grapevines,
Raspberries,
Blackberries,
And several varieties of dwarf Fruit trees.
I guess that the last few items (grapes, berries, and fruit trees), won't really start to produce for a year or so, but they're going in the ground this year so I'm counting them.
This is in addition to my flower garden which will be expanding this year due to the increased amount of ground that will be available on the South side of my house previously used to house the tomatoes. I will be adding Nasturtiums, Sweet Peas, Heirloom Hollyhocks, Echinacea, Poppies, and Moon Flowers. The climbers will be trellised along the fence line. The bush flowers will be used as border plantings. The ground flowers will be spaced out along the borders as well.
Also, I will be expanding the herb garden. Last year I had cilantro, dill, sage, chives, mint, oregano, comfrey, horehound, oregano, thyme, and chamomile. This year I will be adding anise and possibly stevia.
So there you go. It's going to be one heck of a spring and summer. Every year I look at the list and think "dear heavens how is this all going to work?" and then I have to remind myself that I've done this all before and it's really only 5 or 6 plants that I haven't tried before.
Deep breaths. Focus. Center myself.... now go!
FYI: I've ordered a book called The Backyard Homestead. It promises to be a good read.

5 comments:

Brent and Emily said...

gahhh...

Hearts and Hands for Nepal said...

IMPRESSIVE! I'm just imagining all the weeding...yikes! That may be because I am weeding a bunch of things in my own life right now. Gardening IS life. I'd want to sprout in your garden for sure! Sounds beautiful.

melissa said...

Sounds awesome. Also, you are making SO HUNGRY!!!!

Creed Family said...

Sweet. That is a great list! Do you plant extra to store and/or can? I love all the fresh stuff but have a hard time committing to the canning so I usually just plant enough to eat fresh. And can you really get watermelons and cantaloupes? Why no tomatoes? Looking forward to updates.

Camille Farias said...

Amber C,
I do some canning. Most we eat fresh and/or give away.
The lack of tomatoes was a horrible oversight on my part. I grow mostly tomatoes. They have been added to the list. We can get Watermelons and Cantaloupes here just fine. The only real problem we have is a short growing season so you have to start pretty much everything except the fall crops inside. We also have highly alkaline soil so we have to amend with Sulfur but otherwise it's super easy to grow stuff here, especially in the nice soft soil out where I live by the lake.