Steve's Square Foot Garden 2009

First signs of asparagus

The first signs of asparagus are appearing.  We should be able to lightly harvest some this year!

 

Garden plan for 2009

Here is my garden plan for 2009 (what to plant where):

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Steve

Today's tasks

So today I went out and began some early Spring chores.  I turned the soil over in the garden beds (to dig in the new compost, blood meal, and bone meal I scattered the other day)  I also planted the carrot seeds, onion sets, lettuce seeds, and parsnip seeds.  My body is sore but it feel s good!

New raised bed, amending the soil, and grape trellis in place

HGTV has cancelled "Gardening by the Yard" - Protest!

So I just got wind that HGTV has cancelled (or should I say "composted") "Gardening by the Yard."  Along with many other folks I am quite dismayed.  The one decent, true gardening show on HGTV is now gone.  On April 13 there is an email protest scheduled to take place (http://hgtvprotestcampaign.blogspot.com/). If you are passionate about this, I would encourage you to participate!

Signs of life

  So looking around the garden we see our first spring signs of life.  The first crocus, the budding garlic bulbs, and the seedlings growing in the closet!

 

Seed companies

This year I decided to place my seed orders with a few companies:

Fedco (seem to specialize in Northeast seeds):

http://www.fedcoseeds.com/

Seed Savers Exchange:

http://www.seedsavers.org/

Seed Library (a local seed saving organizationin my area):

http://www.seedlibrary.org/

I'll post back with my exact selections for this year.

Seed catalog

So I am looking through the plethora of seed catalogs that I have received in the mail over the past month or so and feeling a bit overwhelmed.  So basically I am goingt o be narrowing down a bit the catalogs that I will be ordering from.  I still like Seed Savers Exchange (http://www.seedsavers.org/) as one of the sources.  I like their selection of heirlooms and used them a lot in last year's garden.  Second I think I will be using Fedco (http://www.fedcoseeds.com/) a Maine based seed source I saw mentioned in an old issue of People, Places, Plants Magazine.  I think I need to focus a bit more on northeastern based veggies/seeds and think that Fedco will be a good source.  Lastly I think I will get some limited seeds from the local Hudson Valley Seed Library (http://www.seedlibrary.org/). I like that it is a very local seed source and what the people/farm is trying to do so I will definetely try and support them with some of my selections.  Of course there may be other seeds/equipment that I may need outside of these three but I think I'll do the bulk of my ordering from the three I listed. 

Veggies that didn't make the cut

So as I ponder what to plant this upcoming year and scour the plethora of seed catalogs I receive, I have started to whittle down some 2008 vegetables that won't make my 2009 cut.  So far the ones on the "chopping block" (pun is intended) are:

Lettuce (we get plenty from our CSA participation)

Peanuts (was a nice novelty to try but not worth the space)

Brussel sprouts (was fun to try but they are readily available in our area...plus its not my favorite veggie)

Beets

Peas (not enough return for the space alotted in the garden) 

Garden in January