Planning the Garden

We are FINALLY down to the last month of Winter! This year, Winter has really put us through the ringer, here in New England. We've suffered through extreme cold, frozen pipes, and there is still tons of snow out there. Except that at this time of year, it's no longer that lovely, frosty-white blanket over everything, but instead it is just huge, filthy grey, solid snowbanks.  Yuck.

But... we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel. We're getting a few warmer days. Some of the snow is starting to melt. The maple trees have been tapped, and sap is starting to flow. And... the seed catalogs are arriving in the mail!

For the last couple of days I have been sitting with my Garden Journal, looking back at past year's plans, and drawing up the new plan for this year. When planning each year's garden, we take certain things into consideration when deciding what to plant and where. First of all, we make sure we rotate the crops in our 7 raised beds, to keep the soil healthy. We also consider what plants grow well with other plants, and the amount of sun each bed gets. We take a look through our notes from previous years, to remind us of our successes and challenges.

In addition to our perennial herb garden (with thyme, chives, rosemary, oregano, lemon balm and mints) and our little berry patch, we plan to grow:

This year's plan, in progress

Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Green beans
Beets
Kale
Pumpkins
Squash
Zucchini
Summer Squash
Carrots
Lettuces
Potatoes
Peas
Peppers
Annual herbs, such as basil, parsely and cilantro

Even though, at this moment, all the garden beds are still buried under a thick layer of snow, with only the raspberry trellises poking up through, I can feel that the end is near. By next week, on the kitchen window sill, seedlings will be preparing to sprout, and Spring will be getting closer day by day.