Big Plans, Little Plans

Based upon this past year’s yield and the 2 previous years of our gardening adventures, I really should throw in the towel on this whole gardening thing.  Chalk it up to a passing fancy and go back to cleaning toilets and scrubbing crayon off the walls.  (No, there’s no hope for Mt Laundry.)

Yeah, not going to happen.  Back to reality.  I need to garden like I need to breathe.

Sweet Hubby, the Wonder Kids, and I have been making plans for the new round of gardening seasons.  Currently, we’ve ripped all the veggies out of raised beds and are letting the beds rest until time for spring planting.  This past year, I felt like we were constantly behind the 8-ball so we need a breather before charging head first into the fray again.  We’ll be topping them off with compost over the next couple of weeks to replenish the nutrients and soil.  In our little corner of Zone 8, we can realistically grow veggies outdoors 10-11 months out of the year.  We’re working to get to that point.

In our talks and thoughts, we’ve culled some ideas.  Here they are:

• Drink more coffee so I can attempt these plans
• Let the kids have fun in the garden and enjoy it as a part of life
• Move the roses to the new rose bed
• Plant more heirloom roses
• Plant climbing roses along the fences
• Grow more veggies, heirloom and regionally appropriate (potatoes! okra!)
• Work with the Wonder Kids to eat the new veggie varieties we grow
• Build 5 more raised beds
• Build the Wonder Kids their own 4′ x 4′ raised bed for growing and experimenting
• Grow more herbs and flowers for pollinators and beneficial insects (The Kids really want caterpillars that will grow into butterflies in the garden.)
• Learn how to and try to save more seeds
• Propagate more cuttings from favorite shrubs and trees
  
• Build 4 cold frames
• Start collecting windows and doors for a DIY, recycled greenhouse
• Build rain barrels
• Visit more garden friends and make friends with other gardeners in the neighborhood
• Share seeds with my neighbors and people who want seeds
• Research and implement more organic insect control (I will not lose all of my squash to the squash vine borers this year.)
• Question my sanity as I read through this list
• Recycle a baker’s rack from Papa Peach into a holder for our various garden things.
• Try to not kill everything in my under-watering and over-exuberance
• Salvage at least 2 tomatoes from the squirrels so Sweet Hubby can have a decent tomato sandwich
• Plant more bulbs-daffodils, dahlias, and whatever else strikes our fancy (Pink flowers are a must.)

Well, that’s a lot longer list than what I originally wrote down.  I can’t guarantee we’ll get everything accomplished but we will have fun the garden.  Feel free to join us in our 2013 adventures.  We can laugh at ourselves, our midsaventures, and jump for joy together.