We're late! We're late!

For a very important date! Ok, not really. But if you look at our dates from last year, we already had growth on our spring plantings by now! My only hope is that this snow now melts slow enough to stay in the ground after our very dry year last year. Fingers crossed. The weather forecast does look more promising, with nighttime temps above freezing by the end of this week (knock on wood)...

Honey

Snow, snow and more snow.

Yuck.

It's coming...

Spring that is! We had some rain yesterday (an entire day of rain without snow!) and the temps have remained above freezing for the weekend. It'll drop down again tomorrow, but we've had some snow melting. Even a small pond forming in the backyard! And by pond, of course I mean giant puddle.

This melting makes me think back to the little crocus bulbs I planted last year...I wonder how long it will be before we see their little green sprouts??

Brrr.

First week of March. 10" of snow. Sigh.

Seed order!

I ordered our seeds for this year today! As I was looking to update the blog, I couldn't help but looking at last year's planting dates and notice that our first outdoor planting was just one month from now! It seems crazy with the amount of snow we have one the ground...but hopefully this upcoming cold front is the last of the season.

More updates to come!

Creative Vegetable Gardening, Joy Larkcom

I was lucky enough to receive the aforementioned book as a Christmas gift this year (thanks!) and it's been fueling some inspirational thoughts for the garden.

The book is all about how to make vegetable gardens beautiful, and is plum full of ideas!

Some initial thoughts as I work my way through the book:

• Arched trellises between the beds. We may need to increase the spacing a little bit to get this to work, but I think it'll be a great space for cucumbers, peas, beans, and climbing squash.
• Hanging planter boxes (like window boxes) to hang from wooden fence to hold herbs (found this one on pinterest)
• Terraced raised beds - three small beds of staggering heights - this would be really pretty along a hill or fenceline
• A semi-permanent screen made by 1x1s in 4-6" squares would be great for cucumbers and primary
• Seating - these gardens are so cute and all have a chair or bench in them to enjoy the setting. we'll have to figure out something...maybe the Adirondack chair??
• Containers - filling little corners, etc. with containers filled with flowers or veggies. Note - soak new terracotta pots before using so they don't suck up all the moisture. The book recommends the following (we can think about these for the hanging boxes too!):
• Basil
• Marjoram
• Thyme
• Bay
• Juniper
• Lavender (I wonder if we could over-winter these in the greenhouse??)
• Lemon Verbena
• Rosemary
• Sage
• Tarragon
• Chives
• Lemon Balm (we planted this in a container last year, I wonder if it'll come back?)
• Mints (yes!)
• Chives
• Parsley
• Caraway
• Dill
• Coriander
• annual flowers, including marigolds to keep the bunnies away!
• For the herb garden, I think we need some creeping thyme as a nice border plant
• Intercropping - apparently onions can be intercropped with lettuce. We'll need to try this!