Starting a New Garden Year, 2011...Yippee!!!

Below: My Before Garden Photo.

Photo taken April 1st, 2011 (notice the lettuce in the wheelbarrow that I was about to plant) fun fun! But first I had to clear out the old fall leaves and add some soil for the lettuce box. Also notice no leaves on the trees yet as of April 1st. Leaves are popping out now though (April 5th)

I've scaled back a bit. I've decided to purchase a lot of my plants this year. Starting from seed is fun, but last year I got a bit obsessed to the point it's all I could think about, lol. So I decided to take a seed planting break and simplify my garden time this year.

The last two years of planting have been a big experiment for me. I had no clue what I was doing, and I probably still don't, but I've learned a lot. This year I'm also scaling back on my plant choices, so no Okra or Eggplant will be grown this year. Keeping it simple and sticking with the things I buy in the store often.

Here is a list of plants I am doing this year: Strawberries, Thyme, Lettuce, Arugula, Radishes, Carrots, Bush Beans, Parsley, Chives, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Basil, and Jalapenos.

I read the Companion planting article at http://ghorganics.com/page2.html and I also checked out my planting dates for where I live in Virginia at http://www.southernexposure.com/plantingdates.pdf

By reading the Companion guide article I figured out why my lettuce didn't taste so hot last year, so a VERY helpful read.

Just to recap, I have four 4x4 squarefoot garden beds that My husband and I made from untreated 2x6's. I filled them with the Mel's Mix recipe to start (compost, vermeculite, and peat moss). This will be my 3rd year using them. They seem to be holding up just fine :) This year I just grabbed a bag of ORGANIC garden soil to add to the lettuce box. We'll see how that works out.

Below: a box free of old leaves and about to plant the lettuce :)