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Last year I didn’t do much planning for the garden, it was mostly a spur of the moment decision. I knew I wanted to have a garden, but didn’t know what all I wanted to plant. I just got a bunch of seeds, pots and soil.
This year I plan on doing a better job with the planning of my garden. I have a pretty good idea for everything that I would want. But I will be sharing a garden with others.
Now I do live on my Father in Laws property, so it will be a garden with me and my sister in law. Not sure how big the garden will be just yet but there are a few spots we have picked out, we just have to clear it with the FiL before the yard gets tilled up.
I had thought about doing another container garden this year, but I did spend a lot of money on pot’s and soil then to have to just leave them behind kind of sucked. It was a great experience though.
Why am I going with an in ground garden this year?
There are a number of reasons. money being the biggest. I don’t want to dump a lot of money in soil and pot’s again.
I also plan on having a lot more of a variety of plants. I will have most of what I did last year, but since I left the seeds in Ohio I’ll be leaving out a few items from last year.
I have looked into the cost of tiller’s and they can be a bit pricey, but so can pot’s. I did look into rentals and that doesn’t seem to be too bad. I only plan on using the tiller once here.
We do have a garden hose faucet outside. In Ohio I had to carry all the water from the kitchen sink to the back yard. it did get a little messy. With having the garden hose it won’t take as much time watering.
I will however be having a few pot’s for certain plant’s that don’t need as much sun. but the rest will be in the ground.
What will I be planting this year?
I know I want to do a bigger variety. So far I will be planting Squash, Zucchini, Pea’s, Bush Beans, Spaghetti Squash, Cucumber, Tomato, Cherry Tomato, Jalapeno’s, Eggplant, Lettuce, Sweet Corn, Cilantro, Carrots, Broccoli, Bell Peppers, Garlic, Kale, Spinach, Onion’s, Potato’s, Pumpkins, Watermelons, Blue Berries, Raspberries, Grapes and maybe Black Berries.
I plan on doing the Cilantro, Garlic, Kale and Spinach in small 10″ pot’s. For the Berries and grapes I haven’t decided if I want to do those in big pot’s with maybe some wire panels in an archway over the front and back porches. I have always thought this would be a nice way to start and end the day, grabbing some berries on the way in and out.
I know I’ll have to keep track of spacing for some of the plant’s. I also want to time them out in order for me to be able to have enough time to freeze what we don’t eat. I did an okay job with it last year but still ended up wasting some.
Most of the waste was due to blossom end rot, and animals taking off with the good veggies. Neighbors would tell me that squirrels, rabbits and cats would take off with some of the veggies.
How will I be spacing things out?
I still need to figure out exactly how big the spot is that we will be having for the garden this year. I do plan on getting that figured out in the next few weeks. I don’t plan on having but 2 squash/zucchini, watermelons and pumpkins.
I know these need around 4′ each. I might not be able to have 2, I might just have to stick with 1 plant each. The Pumpkins are just for the Halloween time frame for decorations that we can do with the kid’s with pumpkin carving’s.
Most of everything else doesn’t require much space.
How will I time out my planting?
I haven’t decided on this part just yet. I know I’ll need to get this issue resolved before I do start planting seed’s. I do plan on starting seed’s inside then replant when they get big enough.
I don’t plan on doing the pumpkins until July-August time frame. I want those to be ready by the time Halloween come’s along.
I know that there are a number of programs and apps out there that will help you with knowing when and how far spaced out to plant. I will likely be looking into these as well.
The first things I’ll be planting will be the Spinach and Kale. Then onto the Squash and Zucchini. After that it is still up in the air. A lot of it just depends on how big the garden will be and how much space I’ll have to plant.
What apps or programs do you use to help you with your gardening?