Catherine Love~ Ramblings from my Heart and Home

Planning the Garden

I should say gardens!  I am so thankful to be able to garden again!  Though I tried desperately, the lack of sunlight and vandalism by little neighbors did in most of my attempts at the apartment.  Now I have a big yard, with a fence  and plenty of sunshine. 

We are planning two 4' x 16' raised beds for the veggies.  We're going to go with the square foot method and see how much we can grow in those two areas.   I will probably put a few things in containers, as well. 

We are also planning to create a bed around the back deck to grow herbs and flowers.  I've got a long, long list of "wants" so we may have to find another spot or two for these also. 

Here's a beginning list of veggies:

spinach

lettuce

chard

tomatoes

peppers- bell, jalapeno

cucumbers

squash

peas

green beans

carrots

okra

beets (?)

Herbs:

chives

rosemary

thyme

sweet marjoram

bay

basil

parsley

cilantro

peppermint

spearmint

lemon balm

lemon verbena

pineapple sage

dill

flowers:

lots!

marigolds

nasturtiums

moonflowers

morning glories

larkspur

poppies

dianthus

hollyhocks

cosmos

foxglove

roses........ and more!

Nice

12:16 PM, Tuesday, January 23, 2007 .. Posted by bethsbrightside

You've got a good list going!

I love your flower selection...there were nasturtiums planted in the garden when we moved here, and they self-sow. So I just have to pull the ones I don't want! They will train up a fence, and taste great in salad too...nice little peppery kick.

I would caution about the morning glories. I'm not sure if they were planted here at one time or not, but they are very prolific to the point of being a pest. They are all in the garden, and grow so fast it's hard to keep up with them. They twist so tight and start to choke the life out of my plants! Also, they are tough vines and difficult to pull off fences, etc...so weigh carefully if it's worth it to you to give them a foothold.

I also have larkspur and poppies, and they are beautiful, self sowing and easy on seed saving. I collected a cup of poppy seeds in an afternoon! Zinnias and marigolds are great too, especially since they take the heat well. Those and cosmos are easy to collect seeds from too...I even had some multiply during the growing season! And hopefully the seed viability will be good enough to plant from this year.

Happy planting! You'll be at it before I can even think about it here in zone 6. Argh.