Full Belly Fridays-Garden Planning Time!

Buried shed in DecemberWelcome to 2014! It’s a snowy one in Newfoundland (we got an unseasonable 150+ cm of snow in December, and it has stayed thus far), which has got me garden dreaming a lot earlier than usual. It’s probably a good thing, since it means I’ve got lots of time to plan, and get things queued up.

To start with, I’m organizing a group order from Richters Herbs. My parents gave me a gift certificate for Christmas, and since the selection in the St. John’s area can be a bit lacking sometimes, I figured that at least a few of my friends might be interested. So far, I’ve got 4 people who’ve committed to ordering. We’ll see if anyone else jumps on-board.

A project that I’m taking another stab at is seed starting. Last year’s efforts failed, mainly due to a combination of poor design, and neglect. This year should be a lot better, thanks to a few factors:

  1. I’ve already commandeered the basement bathroom for brewing, which requires a relatively warm (20 C) environment
  2. I picked up a set of shelves at Costco last year that would be perfect for my needs
  3. My excellent father-in-law has some partially-used fluorescent tubes, and should be able to help me find some inexpensive fixtures.

I’m also thinking of making my own seed starting mix this year. One of the blogs I follow, The Cheap Vegetable Gardener, has been starting seeds indoors for several years now, and has a good recipe for seed starting mix. I may give it a try!

In December, I won a package of 20 seeds from Cubit’s Organics (really nice people, and excellent seeds), and what I bought last year should still be fine (mostly peas and Brussels sprouts), so now all I need to do is plan the gardens themselves. I’m trying to be a bit more careful about my companion planting, so here’s my preliminary bed contents plan:

Shed Bed: Garlic, onions, tomatoes, peppers, carrots, squash, basil, mizuna, radishes, zucchini

Maple bed South: Beets, broccoli, Brussles sprouts, corn, cauliflower, arugula, hon tsai tai, kale, soybeans, tatsoi

Maple bed North: Peas, pole and bush beans, lettuce, pak choy, cabbage, mache, endive

I’m no expert on companion planting, so if you happen to know something about it and see a problem (or a more optimal distribution), post in the comments below!

Cross-posted from MyFolia Journal

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