My garden!

This is my garden for this year. I have potato's (it's my first try at that), they have been hilled once. Lettuce is next, starting to fill in. Then the bean plants. Nine different tomato plants, four pepper plants, one basil, plus onions and peas.

The spring time is so exciting for us gardeners. I typically start thinking about what to plant in the late winter. Mentally going over what grew well, what we eat a lot of, and what just isn't worth the effort. (For me, that is corn. Takes up too much space, and I can buy it from a roadside stand for a decent price.) I start musing about what I want to try different this year, add more of, what we ran out of during the winter.

Then, tilling the garden. Mixing in compost, pulling out weeds and grass. Noticing the fat worms in the garden, worrying about any grubs and slugs. Itching to get seeds in the dirt.

April finally hits, and I can plant the peas and lettuce. So exciting! I am not a huge fan of lettuce, but it feeds my need for instant gratification. It grows quickly, and I can usually make a nice salad by mid-May. I love going out and inspecting the plot, to see if the seeds are coming up or not, how much damage the slugs are doing, if I should re-plant more seeds.

Then, the tomato plants hit the garden stores. Oh, trying to have some restraint! I know that late April is too cold for tomato plants in my area. Try to wait until May.

Early May, going to the stores and picking out the tomato's, peppers, and other plants. How many plants to get, and what type? Roma's are small, but fairly prolific. Beefsteaks just don't produce as much as I wish. I LOVE cherry tomato's, but there always seems to be too many of them, and they aren't so great for canning. But I would rather have an over-abundance of tiny tomato's than just one or two huge ones. Hmmmm....early producers (my tomato's usually don't ripen until my birthday, mid-August. It always seems like it takes too long), or prolific plants? After that, on to peppers. Now, my pepper plants never do extremely well, but hope springs eternal! There is a joy in watching them grow, counting the blooms, and seeing how many actually bear fruit.

Now it is mid-May, and I am optimistic that this year will be a good one. My peas are sad, very sad, and I have even replanted them. The peas in pots on my deck are doing much better than the ones in the ground. I need to get about 15 pounds of peas to get us through the winter. 30 pounds would be better (but that is WAY too optimistic!). My first try at potato's seem to be doing well. I can't wait for new potato's, peas and white sauce....just like Momma used to make in the early summer.

Ahhh.....I love gardening!