Garden Planning

Yes, I know it is midwinter. However, this is the best time of year to plan your attack on the garden in the spring. For us in the south spring comes early and we will be sowing peas, carrots and other cool weather crops sooner than we think. So, it is time to plan. Each year I keep a notebook of garden happenings for the year. I make notes about certain crops and drawings of where things were grown. The drawings allow me to rotate things around to conserve soil nutrition. The notes give me ideas of how to improve, things that didn't work so well, plants or varieties worth growing and those not worth growing. So I sit down every January and take stock of what the next year's plan will look like (or hopefully look like). I start a new notebook (just a small spiral notebook) and start with what I plan to grow. Once I have that then I check my seed supplies to see if I need to order anything. This year I am completely out of broccoli and cauliflower seeds so I will definitely be ordering those. Then I look through my seed suppliers catalogs and decide if there is anything I want to try. If I am adding something new (like this year expanding the herb garden), then I add those things as well. I then take a look at the previous year's garden drawings and make a new drawing rotating plantings around the garden so that I am not growing in the same spot I did the previous year. Because my garden goes around a pond then I pretty much have to grow in blocks instead of one big plot with everything all neat in a row. I have blocks with everything all neat (well, I try anyway) in a row. I highly suggest everyone have some sort of plan for their garden. It definitely saves time on the garden, and it also saves money on the garden as well. I remember when I didn't plan and I would spend money on seeds that I did not need simply because I forgot that I harvested seeds the year before and had tons of them. Or I would replant something that had not done well the year before and waste time, energy and money trying to grow something that simply did not do well for me. Our garden is designed to not only provide us with good wholesome food, but save us money also. It is important that I keep that focus in mind when the gardening addiction hits full force in spring. Hope your planning goes well and we all have a bountiful harvest. God bless.