I am amazed at how every year gardening is a unique experience! It is never the same from one year to the next. No gardener I know can pull out his journal and check it to find the same weather and soil conditions from a previous season. Each year is different. Gardeners get a renewed chance every year to learn more about how to garden in the specific climate that is facing them.
In my neck of the woods, we’ve had a lot of cold and wet springs. So wet that unless you have raised beds, planting had to wait a bit. I usually have much of my gardening in the ground by early April, priding myself with proper planning to fill my garden and raised beds early to beat the coming summer heat. But last year, with the sale of our present home, I didn’t know how much ground gardening I wanted to do as it is going to be a hectic summer filled with downsizing everything and moving to a much smaller homestead.
I decided to do a small ground garden as well as fill many of my existing containers. But what should I plant and where? Garden plotting or planning comes in handy. I was able to sit down at the edge of the garden site that Jim has tilled up from last year’s extensive garden plot. I sat down in my official garden chair. That’s a chair that can take staying out in the weather that Jim picked up out of someone’s trash, recycle, reuse, restore. Taking some graphing paper, I designed several different garden styles that would utilize the space most effectively. Planning on paper first helps takes some of the guesswork out of the process and forces me to stop and think about what kind of vegetables will work best for Jim and me.
I first make a trip downstairs to my freezers to see what I have in abundance and what vegetables I have used up from last year’s harvests. Years ago, I planted 26 sweet pepper plants and had beautiful weather conditions for them. I harvested bushels of sweet peppers that I washed, cut up, and froze as well as dried trays and trays of them in my dehydrator. Many times, you will have one or two vegetables that will do excellent one year and not produce much the next season based on soil temperatures, rain totals, and humidity rates. Gardening is always a pleasant chore, but it is still surprising what planting will reap this season’s bumper crops. Many older homemakers know the wisdom of holding back some tomatoes or other treasure in our storage just in case we experience crop failure in the upcoming season.
For example, two years ago when many gardeners including me had poor results with our tomato crops, I pulled out from my freezers enough “frozen assets” to put up 20 jars of tomato juice. The downside of that is when you have high yield back to back years, and you have no room left in those freezers.
So, I took my graph paper and sat at the edge of my garden and dreamed of all my future success. Tomatoes with no blossom rot as big as my fist without a single blemish, speckled lima beans gracing my trellis alongside the pickling cucumbers that will finally yield enough small cucumbers at one time to make some gherkins, zucchinis that will all stay healthy without having to use chemicals to keep the bores away. You get the picture, I was dreaming! Okay, I admit it. I was dreaming of a weed-free garden that is pest free and one which my sweet chickens will not destroy. I am dreaming, but that is a part of what makes gardening so much fun. It’s the anticipation of great things. We all need to imagine. I encourage you if you have never gardened or if you have gotten discouraged by too much garden calamity to renew your efforts and try again. Gardening is an excellent way to get outside and enjoy the fresh air and exercise by hoeing and harvesting. Pull up a garden chair and sit at the edge of your freshly tilled plot and dream away. Buchheit has everything from tillers to tools to plants to row covers to help make your garden a reality. If you have any gardening questions, just let me know, and I will find you an answer. Happy Gardening! I hope this encouraged you to get outside and plant today. It’s not too late!
Be blessed! Anne May
