When I look out the window seeing snow and ice on the ground, and the temperature hovering around 18 wind chill factor, gardening isn’t what one might think comes to mind. One would be wrong if that is the thinking.
This evening, after a friend started talking gardening. I actually started thinking more seriously about planning. It has been on my mind for a bit, but figured I had plenty of time.
I pulled up my GoodNotes 2020 Garden Journal and made a copy to create my 2021 Garden Journal. After deleting all of the pages from last year, I redrew the birds-eye view of my 4’x4’x10” raised garden beds. The graphics weren’t as tightly looking last year as I would have liked; I wanted it to be more precise and more to scale this year. Plus, I had to increase the beds from four to six for this year.
If you remember, I experimented with square foot gardening last year, and it worked out very well with a pretty good harvest for an initial run. Although it is possible with some crops to have at least two growing seasons, I only did one harvest “season” last year. Trying a second season for a few crops are on tap this year. I also have a goal of being able to do a lot of canning of fresh vegetables this year using the fruits of my bounty.
In addition to the now six garden beds, I’m going to add a small herb garden on the new patio. If it is close at hand, I know I’ll use more of the herbs in my cooking. This bed I still need to find, plus a container of some sort specifically for the rosemary.
For the first time, most of my seeds are heirloom, with all being non-GMO. I even discovered in my research last fall one can buy actual Hatch Chili Pepper seeds. We’ll have the option of Christmas this year as I purchased both red and green chili seeds.
Sadly, I’ve decided not to grow corn this year. I love fresh corn, but the amount of water and space the plants take made me decide I could use the space of 16 plants to more than double that number within the same space. We have a farm nearby where I can get my fix of farm fresh corn whenever I want.
Gardening seasons starts in just 12 days. At that time, I need to start the first seeds to be ready to transplant after the last frost. Although I am looking forward very much to getting my garden going, the time to do so sure did sneak up on me.
Are you ready?
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 