Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Getting ready to garden

Wow, gardening season is just around the corner. Technically, in about two days. Plant your peas on Washington's birthday, that's what my dad always says. I wonder how global warming affects that - one of these years we'll be planting peas on Martin Luther King day. And then, a few decades from now, it'll become a Christmas tradition. Yikes, what a scary thought!

But, on to more pleasant thinking...

I finally perused the seed catalog this weekend. I prefer Territorial Seeds (www.territorialseeds.com), mainly because they're fairly local. And they have some really cool stuff in their catalog! I did a huge seed order yesterday. We still have to clean out the garden and borrow a truck to get some more compost, but here's the plan for this year:

Basil
Carrots
Onions (I'll plant a ton of Walla Walla seeds, and then thin them as green onions while I wait for the big ones to mature)
Cilantro
Pattypan squash
Radishes
Lettuce
Leeks
Cucumbers
Celeriac
Yellow wax beans (which I hate out of a can but maybe I'll like them fresh?)
Green beans
Peas
Miniature yellow bell peppers
and a new bay laurel tree to replace the one that Ringo ate last year.

When the time comes, we'll get tomato plants, jalapenos, and bell peppers from the nursery up the street. And I'll probably try a yukon gold potato this year, which I'll get at the grocery store (no need for a pound of seed potatoes!). We still have an artichoke plant, it's a perennial.

New on that list this year is celeriac, leeks, and the pattypan squash. I like to try new stuff. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. We've discovered we can't plant anything cruciferous, because the aphids just LOVE them. Which is a real shame to my broccoli-loving hubby, but hey - he's the one who said no ladybugs!

He's going to build me trellises this year. I'm very excited about it. It'll give the peas and beas something stronger than the tomato cages I've always used!

So what are you planting in YOUR garden this year?

3 comments:

MamaZuzi said...

I'm still looking for a good garden planning resource. I'm so very not ready... I am emotionally ready to dig in the dirt and have things start to come up in warmer weather but I'm not ready with the beds and such... will have to get Scott and I going on that this weekend I guess... when I'm not in a workshop on having hope or coughing!

The Alt Martha said...

This is the year that I am finally accepting the fact that I am unable to maintain my yard. Every year I think, okay this year I will do it. Then too much sun comes out and I get too hot and itchy and sneezy and abandon it. It didn't use to matter but now my very old and well establish bushes and trees are threatening to take over. Plus my architect next door neighbor keeps making her garden look better and better which makes mine look even worse. How do I plan to cope? I'm going to hire a gardener. It seems like a cop out, like a yuppie thing to do. Frankly I'm trying to look at it like therapy. If your emotional problems become too much to deal with you get a counselor. Well, my yard is creating emotional issues and rather than getting a counselor I'm getting a gardener. Too bad my health insurance won't cover that expense! Good for you Karen for tackling the project! Feel free to pass on any spare veggies, ha ha!

bee said...

This year I picked up:

Yellow waxed beans
Green beans
Lettuce
carrots
green onion
Pumpkin seeds
Sunflower seeds

I will also be picking up a tomato plant and do our own potatoes. I would like to pick up some strawberry plants as well along with a blueberry bush.

Oh and also I have heard that merrigolds are great to plant in your garden to keep the ants out so I will be picking up some of those as well:)