Main Garden Plan 2015
Garden Plan 2015
Someone asked in email about my current plan for this year, so here's the link:
Main Garden Plan 2015
of course this does not show anything for small side garden, community garden or the CSA farm planting
Main Garden Plan 2015
SpringFest 2015
Snow is still on the ground, and to add to that frustration we just got alert for another snow storm that suppose to arrive tomorrow afternoon and dump anywhere between 3-6" of snow. Fun. Not.
But on a happier note, I went to the local SpringFest flower show that was all about flowers, designs, gardening and with promise of good things to come in next few weeks. So here are some snapshots of what they had in case of displays, flowers for sale, landscaping, innovative designs like vertical gardening as well as plenty of info and activities for everyone from kids to seniors.
There were also plenty of boutiques and antique decorations, giveaways like various flowers and veggie seeds, wine and jam/jelly tasting and of course lectures.
But on a happier note, I went to the local SpringFest flower show that was all about flowers, designs, gardening and with promise of good things to come in next few weeks. So here are some snapshots of what they had in case of displays, flowers for sale, landscaping, innovative designs like vertical gardening as well as plenty of info and activities for everyone from kids to seniors.
I was there as one of the helpers from Master Gardener group, and was on "seed docent" role - giving away seeds and answering any questions like "do deer eat them" or "will they grow in shade". It was fun actually to see how many people were interested in planting something for first time.
Planning a Garden
The work for the gardeners starts early in the season, even if it's still winter and the ground is covered in snow. First of all, detailed planning is an absolute "must to have" for a productive garden. As a gardener, we always want to plant more and harvest more, but if you don't plan carefully you might not get anything. Because if you plant sensitive plants too early in a season, you're likely to lose crops to hard frost. Plant too late, and long-term vegetables like melons, winter squash, tomatoes and peppers will not have enough time to ripen in time. That's where the gardener's calendar comes in handy. There are many resources available for the gardeners, from the Almanac to the web-based applications and simple spreadsheets. It's all about what works for you to organize it. Some applications allow you to create a layout to see it visually what you can plant in the amount of space available in your garden, and also will show how many specific types of vegetables can fit into that space. It calculates based on the typical description of the selected vegetable - something that comes indicated on any seed packet you buy in store. Here is an example of my plan from last year, that shows the layout, what is being planted and provides information on when to plant each variety.
So as you can see, from the gardening perspective once it's all set in place and laid out, it's very easy to follow and keep it on schedule. It shows that should be planted inside, and what can wait to be sown directly outside. This way you won't miss planting time and minimize any risks in your gardens. But then of course, Mother Nature has plans of her own and we all must bow to her whimsy - like having 2 feet of snow on the ground in March :)
Tomato choices
It was finally time to chose tomatoes to plant, and after going through all my tomatoes I can clearly see that I have way too many seeds. So the full list is:
| TOMATO Amana Orange |
| TOMATO Ananas Noire or Black Pineapple |
| TOMATO Anna Russian |
| TOMATO Azoychka |
| TOMATO BIG RAINBOW |
| TOMATO Black Cherry (from Dave) |
| TOMATO Black from Tula |
| TOMATO Black Giant |
| TOMATO BLACK KRIM |
| TOMATO Black Prince |
| TOMATO Bull's Heart |
| TOMATO Burpee Heirloom mix |
| TOMATO |
| TOMATO CASPIAN PINK HEIRLOOM |
| TOMATO CHEROKEE PURPLE |
| TOMATO Chocolate Cherry |
| TOMATO Chocolate Stripes |
| TOMATO Cosmonaut Volkov |
| TOMATO Early Roma |
| TOMATO Giant Oxheart |
| TOMATO Giant Pink Begium |
| TOMATO Grafted Brandywine Cherokee Purple |
| TOMATO Grafted Sweet Aperitif Sunsugar |
| TOMATO Grandma Oliver's Green |
| TOMATO Great White |
| TOMATO GREEN ZEBRA |
| TOMATO Isis Candy Cherry |
| TOMATO JUNG Heirloom Mix |
| TOMATO Large Barred Boar |
| TOMATO |
| TOMATO Martino's Roma |
| TOMATO old German |
| TOMATO |
| TOMATO Pink Brandywine |
| TOMATO |
| TOMATO Red Brandywine |
| TOMATO RED MORTGAGE LIFTER |
| TOMATO RED ZEBRA |
| TOMATO Roma Organic |
| TOMATO Russian Rose |
| TOMATO San Marzano Lungo No. 2 |
| TOMATO Sarah Black |
| TOMATO Sugar Sweetie (Cherry) |
| TOMATO Sungold Select II |
| TOMATO Super Beefsteak |
| TOMATO SUPER ITALIAN PASTE |
| TOMATO Super sweet 100 Hybrid (cherry) |
| TOMATO Sweet Million Hybrid (cherry) |
| TOMATO Ten Fingers of Naples |
| TOMATO True Black Brandywine |
| TOMATO Vinson Watts (from Dave) |
| TOMATO Yellow Pear (cherry) |
The ones I put in "bold" are my choices to plant at home garden - only 15 varieties. Items that are crossed out are "give away" to others as I haven't been very happy with these varieties. The rest will have to be planted in community/farm areas as I simply won't have enough space at home. Hopefully this year will be good for them and no blight will demolish them as in the past.
Planting Peppers for this year
So the seeds selected for this year peppers are:
Think it's a bit much? And you'd be right. As I mentioned in previous posts, this year I'm trying some of the hybrids to see how they perform. For most of these peppers I'm planting them at the farm and the community garden. Only few will be planted at home for eating: Chervena Chushka, Aji Dulce, Sweet Chocolate, Purple Beauty, Orange Bell, Canary Bell and Quadro D'Asti. These I know I want to keep for home daily cooking and eating. Hot peppers like Trinidad Perfume, Habanero and all halapenos will be all at the community. Everything else I'll try to fit into the space on the farm. That's if I get to plant there of course as I'm waiting for details on what space I'll get to play with. And if not, I will donate all seedlings to the master gardener "teaching garden" for this year. Time will tell.
| Pepper - Aji Angelo hot pepper (C. baccatum) (from Dave) |
| Pepper - Aji Dulce #2 hot pepper (C. chinense) (from Dave) |
| Pepper - Alma Paprika |
| Pepper - California Wonder (sweet) |
| Pepper - Canary Bell |
| Pepper - Chervena Chushka OG |
| Pepper - Chinese Giant - sweet red |
| Pepper - Chocolate Ghost |
| Pepper - Feher Ozon Paprika |
| Pepper - Golden Star |
| Pepper - Habanero red |
| Pepper - Horizon Bell |
| Pepper - Italian Sweet |
| Pepper - Jalapeno Early - chile |
| Pepper - Jalapeno red |
| Pepper - Jepeto |
| Pepper - Jimmy Nardello's |
| Pepper - King Of The North |
| Pepper - Orange Bell |
| Pepper - Pepperoncini Italian |
| Pepper - Purple Beauty |
| Pepper - Quadrato D'asti Rosso (sweet red) |
| Pepper - Sweet Banana |
| Pepper - Sweet Chocolate |
| Pepper - Trinidad Perfume sweet pepper (Capsicum chinense) (from Dave) |
| Pepper - Yellow Monster |
Think it's a bit much? And you'd be right. As I mentioned in previous posts, this year I'm trying some of the hybrids to see how they perform. For most of these peppers I'm planting them at the farm and the community garden. Only few will be planted at home for eating: Chervena Chushka, Aji Dulce, Sweet Chocolate, Purple Beauty, Orange Bell, Canary Bell and Quadro D'Asti. These I know I want to keep for home daily cooking and eating. Hot peppers like Trinidad Perfume, Habanero and all halapenos will be all at the community. Everything else I'll try to fit into the space on the farm. That's if I get to plant there of course as I'm waiting for details on what space I'll get to play with. And if not, I will donate all seedlings to the master gardener "teaching garden" for this year. Time will tell.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)