Could it be? Was the groundhog right? Early spring? I don't know if the weather we have been having is or isn't an early spring but man is it nice! Its been so warm and breezy and perfect. We have spent the majority of every day outside for the last two weeks. A few of those days, we have stayed outside in the yard way after dark and enjoyed a cookout or even just sat and let the kids play.
Last weekend I got the foundation set for my garden area. I got all the dead herbs out of it from last year and got all the roots and weeds dug out and then tilled it up really well. I got the area around the mail box ready for flowers and did some clean up around the front entry where it had obviously been neglected for many years.
Now comes the hard part though. Deciding what to plant. Do I plant some veggies in the garden area? Do I just go the easy route and plant some delicious herbs? What kind of herbs do I buy the most? What about flowers for the front? Do I buy annuals or perennials? Something that blooms now or later or never?
I wish this was an easier task. I am just too fickle. I really would love to grow my own organic veggies. I think that is probably the most money conscious thing but there is not a huge space alotted for it. Granted we could expand the space but most every thing I have ever tried to grow in the past has died and withered away within a few months so I am not wanting to invest a huge chunk in it this year anyway.
I think I may go with some Zinnias or Peonies, both of which I love. Dr. Google says that both are relatively easy to grow but the Zinnias will bloom summer wise better. I may just go the easy, cheap route and get the Pansies that T thinks are the only think I can keep alive. Its like he knows.
This weekend I intend on going to the local grower and checking out what they have and get some professional advice instead of trying to figure it all out for myself. This is the one part of the 2011 list that I really don't want to screw up on this year. I need to be able to keep something alive that isn't human before I even go there with a living, breathing pet.. Is that weird? To practice on plants? Oh, well. Its my thought process at least.
Have any of you ever planted a garden like this? Any advice for an extreme novice?
you might look into square-foot-gardening... I think that's what it's called. If I had a yard that's what I'd be trying my hand at this spring!
ReplyDeleteThe garden we inherited is pretty large and I was really intimated when I started. We ended up dividing it into 4 sections. One section is all herbs, which I love!! I have sage, parsley, thyme, rosemary, basil, and...something else I am forgetting. 2 sections are for food. We grow strawberries (which I love and are so easy to take care of but might not produce fruit the first year and can kind of get out of hand if they aren't contained), tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, carrots, butternut squash, acorn squash, and hot peppers. The tomatoes, squash, and peppers are all pretty easy to grow and have done well for us. Carrots and cucumbers have both done well once summer and not so well another summer. The last section I planted wild flowers in, a butterfly and hummingbird mix that was so fun. We had tons of both and it was so fun to watch them from the window. I love the garden but as I said it is big, much bigger than I would ever design myself. But we go get lots of great food, herbs, and flowers!
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