Gardening Plans for 2011



Part of our beautiful garden in July of 2008.

 Burrr...  it sure is cold outside.  Browsing through the seed catalogs makes me long for the hot summer days that I know will be coming in 5 months or so.  The best thing about living in a climate where we have different seasons is looking forward to and day dreaming about the next season.  In Wisconsin, January is the month to plan our gardens and order our seeds!

Here is a list of what I would like to plant for our 2011 garden (mostly for fresh eating over the summer and into the fall):

Basil ~ 2 containers that sit on our back deck (from leftover seed)
Cilantro ~ 1 container that sits on our back deck
Green Peppers ~ 4 plants (from leftover seed)
Jalapenos ~ 2 plants (from leftover seed)
Tomatoes ~ 6-8 plants (three varieties from leftover seed)
Onion ~ 36 (from leftover seed)
Beets ~ 1 whole packet of seeds
Green Beans ~ 1 whole packet of seeds
Lettuce ~ 1 whole packet of seeds
Carrots ~ 1 whole packet of seeds
Strawberries ~ already planted (remove plants and add more soil to the raised bed then re-plant?)
Potatoes ~ 4 hills
Chives ~ already planted and prolific.  Will need to remove some and give away.

Last year we purchased all our seeds through Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and were very satisfied.  We have many left over from last year and we will be purchasing from them again this year to round out our seed needs.  I like the fact that all the seeds are heirlooms and we could save the seeds (if I take the time to learn how to do that!).  So I am now off to look through the catalog and pick our varieties. 

I can hardly wait until April when I get to start my seeds indoors let alone the end of May when I get to plant all the new little plants out in the gardens!  I just wish I had about 6 more raised bed gardens to work with! 

I could always plan to add more beds in the next few years.   I could have a small raspberry patch, asparagus patch, more room for tomatoes, potatoes, and other delicious vegetables.  I could even plant a couple apple trees, a pear tree, and a few lilac bushes for the wonderful smelling flowers.  The things I could do!