While I'm Waiting

This Winter has been overly mild.  Depressingly mild.  The hard freezes are few and far between and I've been fighting and arguing with my bulbs that it's nowhere near the time for them to pop up.

But that doesn't mean I don't miss the bright flush of color that accompanies Spring.

(makes a mental note to find more Beebalm for this year)

So while I'm waiting for Spring to officially arrive here's the new (unedited) garden planting list:

Veggies

Sweet peas (not sure)

Carrots

Kennebec Potatoes 2 lbs (mid)

Purple Viking Potatoes 2 lbs (early)

German Butterball 2lbs (late)

Ebeneezer onion set 1 pint

Elephant garlic 10 cloves

Crimson Red Rhubarb 1 root

Ruby Queen Beets seed tape

Roma tomatoes 3 plants

Black Krim heirloom tomato 3 plants

Heirloom Rainbow Blend tomatoes 3 plants

Mini Bell Peppers 3 plants (miracle of a find)

Zucchini 1 plant

Herbs

Parsley

Cilantro

Rosemary 

Lavendar

Must Have's

Pea trellis (maybe)

Cat repel spikey mats (for the neighborhood cats who insist on poo-ing where they shouldn't)

You might wonder where on earth I plan on putting SO MANY vegetables this year.  Well I don't know, but I plan on splitting alot of the plants with my mom for her small garden. I'm also growing some tomatoes for my older neighbor who can't garden anymore and then I'm going to try my hand at canning this year.  You'll also notice that the usual suspects such as green beans, corn and cucumbers did not make the cut this year.  

Here's why, over the years I've discovered I don't have enough room to plant enough corn to pollinate them efficiently. 2 smalls rows will not delicious corn make even if I self-pollinate them.  While I love fresh green beans we always have an over abundance that never gets eaten and it feels wasteful.  The cucumbers need more space, or at least vertical space, that I haven't figured out how to accommodate well and I got so annoyed with the lack of pollination and wilt that I'm taking a break from them this year.

In other words it's a "farmer's market" year for those veggies.

I'm hoping that by adding a lavender plant beside my russian sage that it will encourage more bees to visit.  More fluers = more bees = more vegetables.  

A good garden takes time, effort and mistakes, but most importantly perseverance.