Planning your garden

I have been busy planning, then re-planning my garden for 2013.  I found this great website which has a free garden planner on it.  It also gives a little explanation about the veggie and planting suggestions!   I used it to plan my gardens and it worked great.  It is def. worth checking out!

http://www.gardeners.com/Kitchen-Garden-Planner/kgp_home,default,pg.html

This is what my new tomato garden will look like this year:

Gardening Yard & Landscaping For the Home Pots & Planters OUTLET Dear Kitchen Gardener, Thanks for your interest in growing your own herbs and vegetables using our Kitchen Garden Planner. Below is a planting map for the garden you selected or created. Each square represents one square foot, and the easy-to-follow illustration tells you exactly how many plants or seeds to plant for each crop. Underneath the planting map you’ll find several tips for successfully planting each of these crops. For more info, use the Vegetable Encyclopedia and our complete guide to Planting and Care. We hope your Kitchen Garden is fun and bountiful! Planting Map & Guide for Early Spring Marigolds, (2) tomatoes, (1) tomatoes, (1) Marigolds, (2) Not Planted basil, (2) basil, (2) Not Planted tomatoes, (1) basil, (2) tomatoes, (1) Not Planted Marigolds, (2) Not Planted basil, (2) Marigolds, (2) Calendula Sow seeds directly in the ground in early spring. Spacing: two plants per sq. ft. Replant any time you have a little space in the garden. Fast-growing. Days to bloom: 55 days from planting seeds Hint: Pick off spent flowers to keep plant blooming.  Learn more about Calendula in our vegetable encyclopedia Tomatoes Plant seeds 1/4″ deep indoors, six to eight weeks before last frost Transplant into garden one to two weeks after last frost or when soil reaches 65 degrees F. Spacing: one plant per sq. ft. Grow early season crops nearby to allow more room later. Days to harvest: 55 to 100 days from transplanting, depending on variety. Not frost-hardy Hint: Remove lower leaves before planting and bury extra stem.  Learn more about Tomatoes in our vegetable encyclopedia Basil Plant seeds 1/4″ deep indoors six weeks before last frost; outdoors two weeks after last frost. Transplant seedlings two to three weeks after last frost or when soil reaches 70 degrees F. Replant if you have space and want more. Spacing: two plants per sq. ft. Days to harvest: 40-55 days from transplant. Harvest leaves as desired. Not frost-hardy. Hint: Pinch stems early and often to stimulate branching and bushy growth.  Learn more about Basil in our vegetable encyclopedia

Last year's potatoes...

Think Spring!

There may still be snow on the ground, and more forecast for this weekend, but I'm thinking spring!  My fingers are itching to start clearing the debris of winter, and loosening the soil for planting, but since it'll be another 6 to 8  weeks before I can plant the early spring seeds outside, I'll have to settle for some indoor gardening.

I am planning a wonderful evening this weekend.  While the snow flies outside, I'll be cozy inside with my Irish coffee, seed catalogs, graph paper, and lists, and the seeds I saved or harvested last season.  Thumbing through catalogs, and making lists of what to start indoors, and what gets planted directly in the ground and when might not be everyone's idea of a good time, but to me it's exciting.



It's a good time to review last year's garden, and make decisions about what I want this season.  What grew well, and what struggled?  Which veggies need to  be planted in a new area, and which may not be the best use of my space in the future?  Are there some new plants I want to try to grow this year, or some new techniques?

I've been busy pinning ideas for the garden all winter on Pinterest, so these next few weeks are a good time to review those, and decide what is doable this upcoming gardening season.  Which of the cool ideas can I incorporate without having to spend much money?  I prefer to recycle and upcycle rather than spend money from my gardening budget on new ideas.  Follow me on Pinterest ( Mary Howard or marykate978) and we can share ideas.

If you are new to Backyard Growers don't worry about planning, or seeds at this point, Lara and the volunteers will walk you through it step by step, and are even starting seeds, so you will have beautiful, healthy seedlings when it's time to plant.

I'm looking forward to reading everyone's gardening stories this season.  If you aren't already signed up to be a contributor on this blog, contact me and I'll hook you up.

Happy gardening.

Mary
mkmh978@aol.com

Welcome to Spring 2013!

Well, not quite yet, but almost. But we are officially relaunching our blog for the season!

Mary Mahoney Howard, fabulous Backyard Grower Alumni and new BYG Mentor, is our blog manager. Contact her via the blog (under Contributors in the right column) to get signed up to post on My Garden Grows...

Also, the Backyard Growers Program is now on Facebook. (Don't forget to Like us!)

Please feel free to post on the blog and on our Facebook page to your heart's content! These resources are for the Cape Ann gardening community! Spread the word!