The beginning...again

January 25th...I'm sitting here at a desk trying to make a list of things to do to make my garden
a) more productive and
b) easier to take care for

Unfortunately, all I can think of is food.  Maybe I should start thinking about the food I will be growing.  Warm tomatoes with a little salt...yummmo!

Okay, so things that went wrong last time:

** Our irrigation system wasn't optimal...we installed sprinklers which worked nicely until things got too tall, too bushy, etc. and then some things didn't get water and things like tomatoes got pock marks...ew!  Lesson learned there...soaker hoses would be better.

**  Potatoes are probably best left to the Idahoans.  I followed directions, but all I grew were potato wedges with nasty looking feeler things.

**  The soil sucks.  I will definitely need to ammend (is that right word?) the soil.  Not sure with what though...

**  Placement of rows wasn't good as far as squash and cucumbers were concerned.  I often stepped on vines, breaking them as I lumbered through.

Things that went well:

**  The tomatoes that didn't have blemishes were bomb!!

**  The squash and zucchini were tasty and grew well.

**  The herbs were pretty successful, although they got a little out of control once the summer season was over.

**  The fence and gate that husband built was awesome...kept the doggies out!

Well, now that's all said...what is my plan for this year?  Seeds are in the stores now, although I have never started anything from seed.  Might be an adventure.  I got an email from Territorial seed company proclaiming that NOW is the time to start asparagus from seed.  I'm a fan of asparagus, but not sure if that's something I want to grow this year.  I tried okra last year....bahahahahahaha...those should be on the "didn't work out so well" list.  I grew something that could easily have been used as some sort of Medieval weapon.  So, back to seeds...I guess I could get those little kits that have the peat moss disks in them to start the seeds.  Where do you put those?  I have so much room in my house. Not!!  Oh wait, I did start some things from seed, but I put the seeds directly in the ground...no bueno.  The carrots were like tadpoles...the onions never did anything.  Yes, little peat moss disks might be the way to go this year.

Alrighty, so here is my list of things I would like to harvest this year:

tomatoes (big and cherry...oh and those ridiculously yummy yellow pear ones)
squash (although the guy selling down the street identified them as sqush...lol...reminds me also of the "orka")
cucumbers (eating & pickling)
pumpkins (they will NOT die this year!!!)
corn???  Maybe...
onions
green onions
peppers (not so many this time!)
eggplant
chives
parsley
cilantro
basil

I think that's it, but I'm sure I will look at the seeds and the little plants at the garden shop and feel adventurous and confident that I will be able to make some sort of random vegetable grow.  I should post a photo of okra on my credit card as a solemn reminder that vegetables should be eaten, not used in warfare. 

Poultry...well now...I have 13 bodies out in the coop.  Eleven hens and two #%^$#@! roosters.  One crows quite prolifically, while the other makes really horrible attempts at crowing.  The red rooster is a mean one...he also serves as my husband's rugby team mascot.  Comical.  I have been letting the crew out into the remains of last year's garden to nosh, although many of them were confused by this whole scenario.  They follow me throught the gate...well, most of them do.  There are a few stragglers that seem to lose their way and then try to break through the fence, which ironically is made of chicken wire.  It's kind of funny in a mean sort of way to see them bashing their heads into the mesh wiring, thinking they will reach the desired num-nums.  When in fact, all I think they get is a chicken sized headache and maybe a few small lacerations on their faces.  Once they get in...with some direction from the only one with a real brain, they happily eat anything they can find.  I figure the chicken poop being left certainly can't hurt the garden any.  Maybe even help. 

Well, I ceratinly wrote much more than I had intended to.  Next, outlining the plan...