Photo by Jessica Walliser My son is a good garden worker, helping me plant lettuce seeds. |
Well, it’s official: The 2012 gardening season is now underway!
I started my tomato seeds indoors, and sowed several other veggies directly in the garden. Now is prime lettuce planting time for us, so I started by planting short rows of five different leaf-lettuce types from seed. I also sowed some carrots, beets and radishes. I plan to buy some onion plants later this week and get those in, too.
This year, in hopes of saving more money at the grocery store, I made a promise to myself (and my husband) to only plant veggies that we’ll to eat a lot of. Yes, I do enjoy experimenting with more unusual crops, but I have come to the realization that I am probably dedicating too much garden space to them at the expense of our most-consumed crops. So rather than planting a whole row of celeriac (which I love by the way, but don’t use that much of), I’m only going to plant five individuals. The same goes for turnips. Instead, I’m planting extra rows of carrots, lettuce, broccoli, cucumbers, green beans and peas.
I’m the only one in the house that eats tomatoes so I’m limiting myself to a half-dozen plants and putting in more sweet peppers, which we all enjoy. It’s tough for all gardeners, I think, to limit our selections, but I’m hoping that by doing so I will make the best use of my space and still keep the fridge and freezer stocked for many months to come.
