It’s a new year and, for some reason, as soon as the
holidays are past and the un-Christmafication process is complete, my thoughts
turn to my veggie garden. I had some success last summer with my vegetables,
even though the temperatures made it rather unbearable to spend as much time as
I had hoped, but I was unable to make my little garden as beautiful as I
wanted. This year I am planning to get an early start; planning always helps.
The list of vegetables that I will grow this year has been
fine-tuned and a few new varieties have been added where others have been
deleted. I had an overabundance of yellow squash last year and they crowded out
my more preferred zucchini so I will only plant my favorite variety of
zucchini. I have added two grains: Amaranth and Quinoa. The Quinoa I have
chosen because I have become quite enamored with it and Amaranth because it is
supposed to help draw certain detrimental bugs to it.
I had the idea of putting herbs between our neighbor’s yard
and our yard because deer are not too fond of strongly scented plants and I figured
both our neighbors and we would be able to harvest it when we chose. I will
start the seeds before the last frost and get those in place well before it
gets unbearably hot this year. Our herbs
for 2013: Italian Parsley, Oregano, Mint, Basil, Thyme and Marjoram.
I have whittled my tomatoes list down from nine last year to
five this year. I have chosen to keep my favorite types from last year
(Genovese, Pink Brandywine, Lemon Oxheart, San Marzano Lungo No.2) and not
bother with some of the others (Purple Russian, Riesentraube, Snowberry, Sungella
and Pink Caspian). For some reason, these varieties struggled. Some had blossom
end rot and, when I cured that, they were then attacked by tomato horned worms
(I HATE those little critters!) Some I
just wasn’t impressed by their flavor. I added the Purple Cherokee tomato to the
other four I retained.
In place of the deleted tomatoes, I have added two varieties
of eggplant and peppers. I never managed
to get my peppers and eggplants planted last year, with the extra room this
year I shouldn’t have the same problem. The varieties of eggplant we are trying
this year: Ping Tung and Rotunda Bianca Sfumata Di Rosa. The peppers for 2013:
Lipstick, Melrose, Sweet Yellow Stuffing and Red Marconi.
The Dragon’s Egg cucumbers were a huge hit with my little
one, as were spinach and leaf lettuce, so those remain but the Swiss Chard was
not well received so I will nix that or plant it sparingly. (We will be trying
Kale in the fall)
I will try to plant my onion seed on time (early) this year.
Last year, I overlooked it. I have about three or four different varieties,
some spring type onions and some bulb. I
hope to also plant a hedge of Lavender near their home since I read that it
helps prevent some of the pests that attack young onions.
I also added to my selection of beans this year. Last year,
I was late getting them into the ground and with the early arrival of hot
temperatures, they did poorly. I also hope to create a bit of a garden arch to
shade my pathways between raised beds.
There are also a variety of other veggies I’m trying this year
(broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and kohlrabi) I’m a bit nervous about
these as some are suppose to be trickier to grow than my other veggies, but the
family likes them or is open to try them so why not?
Over the next few weeks, I hope to make some headway in the
aesthetic planning of the raised bed area. Above is the color palette I'm thinking of to add a pop of color to the cinder blocks and planters. The garden is fenced in with rather
unattractive fencing but I am sure there is some way to make it look prettier
than it does.
The other problem I had in 2012 was weeds coming up through the
gravel drive and around the fencing. Pavers around the perimeter seem to help
keep them in check around the garden perimeter but the drive was out of
control. I read that baking soda twice during the growing season helps to keep
anything from growing so I will try that in the gravel areas and where we can’t
easily weed.
Here's hoping for a more temperate spring where I can make great progress beautifying my little corner of Heaven! I will try to document any progress in photos.
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