The Gardening Bug Is Nibbling

After not even wanting to think about gardening for the past how many months, I now find myself getting eager for the coming growing season.  

 

It's not that I'm tired of winter time (longer nights for relaxing, snowshoe hikes without worrying about ticks, shoveling tons of snow for great exercise out in the pristine fresh air [well, maybe that not so much], etc.) but as the sun climbs higher in the sky and the warmth feels so good on any exposed skin, I can't help but think about digging in the dirt and harvesting crisp, fresh vegetables that will taste so much better than anything I can purchase from the store.

 

Papa Pea recently noticed one last head of cabbage from last year in a corner of the feed room.  It had been designated for the poultry and it was frozen solid.  He tossed it into the chicken's solarium (they've been so happy there in the sunshine's warmth this winter) and they ate the whole thing.  No butter, salt or pepper required.

 

That made me make some notes in my garden book about planting more veggies expressly for the birds.  During the spring, summer and fall when they can be out on pasture eating all the greens, bugs and wiggly worms their stomachs will hold, they are hardly interested in what we provide as feed.  But during the winter, they really appreciate mangels, squash, beets, carrots, most any root crop I chunk up, put in a pan with a bit of water and set on the garage wood stove overnight to soften up a bit.  Even potatoes, which are said to not be the best for poultry in a raw state can be fed if cooked.  Over winter, we strive to keep not more than a dozen laying hens (and a couple of roosters as boyfriends) so planting extra for the birds is no chore.

 

I have a good supply of all the garden seeds I need, but still have to order some potatoes to plant this year.  I didn't plant any last year and have been buying them at our organic grocery co-op this winter, but we've missed having our own stash here at home.  I always plant a red and a white variety.  The reds give us a greater yield, but the whites give us larger potatoes, just not as many.  Almost all root crops grow well up here in our location with little problem.  A few years ago I had wire worms (eeuuuw) in our potatoes, but other than that I've not ever had potato beetles, blight or other difficulties growing them. 

 

And then there are the garden flowers.  Gotta have flowers which add so much color to the garden and inside, also, as cut flowers.  I once took a bouquet of flowers I grew to a relative.  She told me she preferred to enjoy flowers outside in their natural habitat rather than cutting them.  Each to their own, but I feel one of the joys of growing flowers is enjoying them inside.

 

Yep, although it's still too early for me to even start any seeds inside, I'm finding myself frequently thinking of this year's garden.  And the way time continues to fly by, it'll be here before I know it.

 

Looking at pictures of past gardens definitely serves to get me revved up for what's possible again this year.

 

Do you have plans for your garden all in place?  Growing anything new this year?  What's the size of your growing area?  Raised beds or the more traditional flat plot of ground?  Do you do container gardening?  Have you had any trouble finding the seeds you want?  All thought about gardening are always interesting to me.