Spring Plans Round Up

For this week’s post, I had really been hoping to show you pictures of my brand new garden beds, but the fates haven’t really been in my favor this week. Two are built but unfilled, one is still being built, and the last one is (hopefully) going to be built from lumber I salvage from the old beds…once I get around to surveying what is actually useable. Life and the weather just sort of got in the way this week.

So instead of that, I’ll do a sort of round up post talking about what I’m planning to grow this year. Let’s get to it!

When I was planning my garden beds this year, I used this graphic (source) as a general guideline for crop rotation. In picking what to put in the new beds was more open, but I tried to keep this in mind while deciding so I don’t end up with a year that requires planting 90% greens or something.

Home Bed:

Last year – Tomatoes, tomatoes, and more tomatoes

This year – Greens. I’ve already gotten some of them started, with plans for succession planting through the spring. I went with the following varieties: Paris Island Cos Romain Lettuce, Lacinato “Dinosaur” Kale, Red Salad Bowl Lettuce (which I got as a free packet with one of my seed orders), and Long Standing Bloomsdale Spinach. Once the greens are finished I’m going to plant a candy roaster squash. Maybe two. I’ve never grown these before, but I’ve been dreaming of them because they are so unusual and gorgeous. I have this very strong desire to make pies from them, I can’t really explain why. I’m pretty excited for this one. I’ve read that they require a lot of space, so I’m going to let this whole bed be dedicated to this squash and see what happens.

On my deck I’m going to have a pepper jungle in pots again. I’ve got some Purple Beauty bell peppers, Shishitos, and Arroz Con Pollo peppers, and Lipstick peppers (I got these as a free sample!) going in the guest room. I’m also planning two potted cherry tomato plants. In theory there will be one for each of my kids so they don’t fight over them…but also they’re kids so I’m sure they’ll fight over one or the other plant. I’ll buy hot pepper starts from my local nursery this year. I always have a deck top herb and tea garden as well. I’m planning to give that its own post in the future, so stay tuned!

For the big garden, I’ve got a LOT planned.

Big Garden Bed 1:

Last year – Garlic and Shallots

This year – Sugar baby watermelon. Much like my home bed, this one is one of the bigger beds I have at my disposal, so this year I’m going to plant one or two mounds of watermelons and see what happens. There is some space around them if the vines go too crazy, but I looked for a more compact variety just in case. I might regret it, but what’s gardening without a little experimentation?

Big Garden Bed 2:

This is one of the new beds, so my options are pretty open. This year I’m going to plant: Rosita eggplant, golden bush scallop squash, and homemade pickles cucumbers. Last year I grew the scallop squash and the homemade pickles. The squash worked out really well, but I got very few cucumbers because of a bit of a groundhog situation. By the time that situation was resolved it was fairly late in the season so I didn’t get much. I’m definitely going to give them another try!

Big Garden Bed 3:

This is also a new bed, and in it I’m going to plant some more squash and tomatoes. In terms of squash, I’m going to plant tender gray zucchini and honey nut squash. I really had a tough time narrowing down what kind of tomatoes to plant. I always want to plant more than I can realistically handle, but I think I did a good job this year. I decided to go with Paul Robeson and Radiator Charlie’s Mortgage Lifter as slicing tomatoes, and San Marzanos for processing.

Big Garden Bed 4:

Another new bed but one that is smaller than the last two, in which I want to plant roots and such. I’m going to plant a lot of carrots, some varieties are new and some are leftover seeds from last year. I’ve also got some French Breakfast radishes that I’ll put in as soon as the bed is ready. I’ve got some granex hybrid onions in flats right now, but they aren’t doing great so I might get some onion sets and see which fare better. I’ve never had a lot of luck with onions, maybe this year? As the year transitions into fall, I’ll put my fall radishes in here. I’m a sucker for pickled radishes, so I always have space for them! This year I’m going to do watermelon radishes and daikon.

Garden Bed 5:

The last of the new beds, and easily the smallest of them. I’m going to use it to grow some Ideal Market Green beans vertically, and some calypso dry beans. I’m also going to scatter in some easter egg radishes. I don’t really eat them, but last year they did SUCH a good job as trap with the same bean varieties that I’m going to put them in there again.

Garden Bed 6:

Last year – This little bed was my daughter’s garden last year. She grew a mix of cherry tomatoes, carrots, and radishes. She started school full time this year, so I’m taking it over and she’ll grow her beloved cherry tomatoes in a pot on the deck. Last summer we took a trip to Jefferson’s Monticello, and I got some strawberry spinach seeds from the gift shop. It was way too late in the season to plant them so this year I’m going to just fill this bed with it. I’m excited to give it a try because I was absolutely charmed by the plants growing in Monticello’s gardens.

Garden Bed 7:

Last year – Golden Bush Scallop squash

This year – Prize Choi Pak Choi. I’m going to put this in next time I go to the big garden, and I’m looking forward to giving it a try! I’ve never grown Pak Choi before, but I needed some more greens and my family only recently decided they like it when I use it in stir fry, so why not? This bed is smaller, too, so it seems like a good fit. When the pak choi is finished I’ll put some trellised Good Mother Stallard beans in there.

The rest of the beds at the big garden have perennials in them. The rhubarb has already been weeded and mulched. I still need to finish weeding, composting, and mulching the blackberry bed and the bed that has my lavender and rosemary bushes in them. There is some room with the bushes, and I’m trying to decide if I want to put in another lavender bush, or put in some other kind of flower. Decisions, decisions!

Some other areas of interest in the big garden:

In the back corner where I share two fences with two neighbors, there are a ton of daylilies. I mentioned last time that I want to dig them up and put in something else. I’ve decided that this year I’m going to use that space to grow some sweet corn, and I’ll plant some Turkey Craw beans to grow up the stalks. I’ve always wanted to try growing beans up cornstalks, so I figured this would be a good year to do it!

I’m also going to remove another patch of day lilies from the gate, and plant some beautiful orange butterfly weed there. It’s along the same side as the lavender and rosemary, and the bees already love hanging out there. I’d love to make my garden even more pollinator friendly. I’ve also got some bee balm started in pots that I’ll place around the garden, and I might set up some pots of purple coneflower as well. I’m quite looking forward to adding these flowers this year, too! Last year I enjoyed using nasturtiums and marigolds as companion plants, and will definitely be doing that again this year.

Let’s hope that all of these awesome plans come to fruition this year! Are you trying any new varieties this year? What are you most excited about?