Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Garden Planning Time!

It's a little sad to look out the window in late March and see snow.  I haven't exactly loved the rainy weather this week, but at least it wasn't snow!  What better thing to do on a dreary cold day than plan the garden?

Every year I sit down with my seed packets, my garden plot maps from past years and some graph paper to plan the garden.  This year I managed to put off my spring fever until now- The deadline for getting seeds started in the basement.  Most of the little plants need about 6 weeks to establish themselves before transplanting (I rarely transplant before mid-May in this climate).

So what's on the list this year?  I'm simplifying a bit- I've slowly narrowed down the plants to what we really use a lot of, what we can't buy cheaply from local organic farmers and/or what grows well in our yard.  

Seeds already purchased:
  • Seeds of Change (SOC) Green Glaze Collards
  • Seed Savers' Exchange (SSE) Lacinato Kale
  • SSE Dwarf Blue Curled Scotch Kale
  • SSE St. Valery Carrots
  • High Mowing Seeds (HMS) De Cicco Broccoli
  • SSE Early Snowball Cauliflower
  • SSE Double Yield Cucumbers
  • SSE Thai Hot Peppers
  • SSE Quadrato Asti Gaiallo Bell Peppers
  • SOC Genovese Sweet Basil
  • HMS Early Jalapeno

Seeds/plants I still need to buy:
  • Green beans
  • Beets
  • Lettuce
  • Tomatoes
  • Radishes
  • Snap peas
  • Lettuce leaf basil
  • Cilantro
I'll probably also plant some potatoes and we have perrenial herbs, raspberries, blackberries, and mulberries we can count on.  And garlic.  And apples.

So the peppers, chiles, cauliflower, broccoli, and basil have been planted in my sweet basement set-up.  Now I just wait patiently for the sun.

5 comments:

Catherine Weber said...

I'm SO jealous of your garden! Part of me can't wait to leave apartment life behind so I can start a sweet garden, too!

Do you start your carrots indoors or sow directly in the ground? I've heard transplanting carrots isn't a good idea. (Do they just grow crookedly, or do they not do well?) What do you think??

allularpunk said...

woo! that reminds me so much of my mom... she does the same thing with her seed catalogs, packets, graph paper and plot diagrams. i used to love watching her design the gardens. i, sadly, am much less practical when it comes to gardening, and am just now starting out and experimenting on my own (indoor) garden. it's still fun though! and thanks for reminding me that i need to plant the rest of my transplant seeds this week :)

Cindy DG said...

I love garden planning, I can't wait to get everything started!!
This looks great!!
Cindy
http://vegetarianmamma.blogspot.com

Brett said...

Hi Food Snob!
I just stumbled onto your blog from "punk you" blog, after those ladies commented my vegan taiwan post.

your blog is great. i'll definitely keep checking it.. it reminds me a little of my wife's blog (vegandietitian), because of the gardening, travel and local cooking posts.

peace,
Brett

Steffi said...

I feel like it's never going to be spring this year! I do have a garden but can't plant anything this year because I'm moving soon :( good gardening luck to you!