Garden Planning

I am currently working on trying to get an actual plan on what I am planting this year… and WHERE I’m going to plant it. I want to have my seeds bought by the end of this week, so I can get a head start on some of the seeds. Our last day of frost around here is GENERALLY May Long Weekend, So we are about 12 weeks away right now… give or take. I haven’t actually counted it out.

I have a few seed packs from last year, So I will plant those and probably buy some new ones just in case the old ones don’t work out. Plus, there are some things I buy from garden centres. Like Tomatoes, and some Herbs that I just don’t have the space to start inside the house.

This year, I am also working on some new Companion planting knowledge that I never really considered before. Like, I should keep the beans away from the tomatoes and the garlic. Guess where I planted my beans last year? In the same pot as some garlic and chives, and I had that pot RIGHT next to the tomatoes.

To help me accomplish the plan, I made myself a chart. I have the Plant (not variety, I’ll decide on them when I buy the seeds and go from there); Then my source (like seeds/slips/transplants/etc); Plant When (as soon as ground can be worked or start inside, etc); Sun level (what I can get away with planting in the more shaded areas of the yard); Type of Soil/Top Nutrient needed (more nitrogen/etc); Harvest When (so I can also plan on the preservation aspect of this whole endeavour); Succession Planting?; and Plant Where. I also wish I had added two more columns to my chart: Friends and Enemies. So I can plan to keep plants who don’t benefit each other apart. Once I figure out the whole logistics of the chart, and finish filling it out, I’ll share it up here. The soil/nutrient column is a little above my skill level. But I am making an effort to educate myself a little more on what each plant needs. Usually I put things into the dirt and they grow… or they don’t. I’m trying to end up with more successes than failures.

Now, I just need to figure out how to get mother nature to keep the May/June/September snow dumps to herself, and I should have more successes.

Speaking of snow dumps… I had some 5+ foot snow drifts to shovel out of yesterday… so I may be a teeny tiny bit bitter about the snow at the moment.