Let's get gardening!

The days are getting longer, the air is getting warmer, the seeds have arrived and I have the gardening itch! I started seeds last weekend, and last Saturday I even had a little time to clean out the herb beds.

I have big plans for the garden this year. We're going to widen it by another couple of feet, and we'll either make it about four feet longer, or I'll convince hubby to build me a cold frame at one end. The talks continue in that regard, LOL! Things are growing UP this year, too. I ordered a six-foot-tall bean tower from gardener's supply, which I'm actually going to use for peas (shh, don't tell!), and we're going to build a trellis to hold the cucumber, vining tomatoes, and squash.

The herb beds will continue to expand - most of what I planted last year is still around, with the exception of a few annuals (I try not to buy those, but how can you say no to your husband when he looks at you with those big puppy dog eyes and says "PLEASE, can we buy this sweet sweet plant?" So the stevia came home with us. As well as a few others - marjoram, pineapple sage, and cilantro. Those will likely be replaced, and I'll get more. One of the beds will turn into a salsa garden - I'll grow my peppers and some garlic out there, too.

I'll also be adding a potted lettuce garden as part of our new front yard landscaping (Ringo the greens loving dog will eat anything I plant in the back yard). We're going to get a few half barrels and I'll be planting several varieties of leafy greens.

Here's what my first order from Territorial (my favorite seed company) looked like:

- yellow beans
- purple beans
- beets (cool ones, with red and white rings!)
- carrots
- celeriac (aka celery root)
- leeks (which, by the way, are an all-season crop around here - the ones I planted last year are still going strong!)
- lemon cucumber
- lettuce (a blend specifically for growing in pots)
- vit (salad green, aka corn salad)
- watercress
- purslane (yep, it's a weed. Also a salad green!)
- walla walla onions
- red onions (thin your onions by using the shoots when you need green onions)
- peas
- turnips (oh, yeah, I forgot to order those!)
- spinach (somehow forgot to order that too!)
- pattypan squash (that was fun to grow last year)
- currant tomatoes (little itty bitty things that grow on a vine)
- sauce tomatoes (for cooking - like Romas)

and one herb so far - borage. I plan to put that in the new side bed when we do our landscaping, but I may grow some in a pot for now - it's taller than I want to put in my front beds.

Now - let's get gardening!