2014: A new year for gardening

Well, I have to be honest.  Last year was a pretty sad year for gardening at our house.  The garden was severely neglected - even the tomatoes were ignored.  We had a few other things on our mind.  Like a new deck.  And a patio.  Which are done!!  *insert celebratory music*

So now it's time to turn our attention back to gardens.

We've made our order from Johnny's seeds today.  It includes:

• Tomatoes -  Last year we planted Brandywines, Matt's Wild Cherry, Speckled Roman, and Big Beef.  The first two are heirlooms so we've tried our first attempt at saving seeds from last year.  We've reordered the Big Beef, a new heirloom paste tomato called Amish Paste (the Speckled Roman had a seed crop failure), and a new heirloom to try called Rose.
• Carrots - Bolero again.  We had some success with these in the whiskey barrels last year so we'll try again this year.
• Beets - we're trying Moneta this year.  I still haven't had much success with beets, but I think it's maybe my inconsistent watering style (which we will try to rectify this year).  We'll try these in the whiskey barrels again.
• Radishes - D'Avignon French radishes again.  these are delish
• Kohlrabi - Again, we've never had much success growing these but we'll try again.  Kossak is the variety
• Peas - we're trying the standard Sugar Snap as well as the Oregon Giants, which are snow peas.  We'll see if we can get these to go up the trellises
• Cucumbers - We're just doing a slicing cucumber at our house (Marketmore).  The farm will have a pickling cucumber as well.
• Summer Squash - we've got the Raven zucchini and the Slick Pik yellow summer squash for the garden
• Arugula - this is my favorite green.  My goal is to make some really yummy salads and pizzas with our arugula this spring.  My mouth is watering already thinking of arugula, prosciutto and pine nuts...yummy!
• Spinach - We're trying a smooth leaf spinach called Space.  Again, my goal is to stay on top of the spinach so we can cut and freeze for use in the winter.  Also, I have a new apple spinach juice recipe for my juicer that I am loving.
• Herbs:
• Cilantro (calypso)
• Basil (Genovese)
• Italian Parsley (Giant of Italy)
• Dill (Fernleaf)
• Thyme (German Winter Thyme)
• Eggplant - new this year!  we're trying a version called Oriental Express, which is an Asian variety
• Pole Beans - Fortex
• Flowers - Marigolds (Queen Sophia, hopefully some of these will reseed from last year), Impatiens (Athena Formula Mix), Zinnias (a tall variety called Zowie! Yellow Flame, might try these in a pot in the garden instead of on the patio), Nasturtium (Kaleidoscope mix)
• For the Farm -
• Pumpkins & Gourds - At the farm we'll do the same pie pumpkins and gourds (Winter Luxury and an ornamental mix).  We're also doing the Honey Bear acorn squash and the Waltham Butternut, same as last year, as well as a new winter squash called Sweet Dumpling which looks fun.
• Halona Cantaloupe
• Jersey Knight Asparagus - more for the corn field
• Sweet Corn - for the farm, we're trying Luscious this year.  1,000 seeds...here we go!
• All Star Gourmet Lettuce Mix
• Romaine Lettuce - red and green (Outredgeous, & Jericho)
• Chinese Cabbages for the greenhouse - Bilko, Joi Choi, Tokyo Bekana, Tatsoi
• Mustard Greens - Golden Frills, also for the greenhouse
• Brussels Sprouts - these are definitely for the farm, not my favorite (Diablo)
• Field Peas
• Soy Beans - Tohya (edimame anyone?)

Many of these will get an early start in the greenhouse, which I am very excited about.  It's always such a relief to know that we are thinking about spring, even when the high temperature for Tuesday is 2 degrees F and there is a few feet of snow on the ground.  Honey Bunny loves it though!

Happy dreaming of spring everyone!