Winter has finally settled in and the desire to plant my Spring Garden has been taunting. Reading the pages of The Old Farmer’s 2019 Almanac helps to bring on the desires to get in the dirt and play.  With only a possible five to six months of gardening, this year planning is on its way. Starting seeds in the greenhouse mean I have to plan ahead, make a list of all I plan to grow and shop around for the best price. With each year that I take on this venture, I find that the plan gets bigger and better. Not only have I mastered new skills but I challenge new ones and the garden keeps improving year by year. Thus, creating a more serene atmosphere where plants and other garden visitors can co-exist.

Earlier today, my sister, from another mother, reminded me of how I had thrown up my garden last summer and when they visited they had to tend to the garden and reap what was left. I am even more challenged that this will not repeat itself this year and will only get better. 

What’s so different this year? This year marks the start of raising a few garden beds and having a more sophisticated garden plan I might add. With a spreadsheet in tack to keep track of the plants, when to start seed indoors or outdoors, when to transplant, and the expected harvest will afford me the opportunity to not skip a beat this season. I never really kept an account for my garden budget and oftentimes I know I go beyond the norm. A gardener has to have what a gardener needs, but sometimes I do go overboard.  

The many hours I spend in the garden year after year tending to the plants and looking at its beauty, priceless. The many visits to the garden stores, strolling from one aisle to the other, examining each plant and considering if I should buy this one or that.  Each year around March I usually install the portable greenhouse, move in the garden benches and set up the garden grow kits, to jumpstart the growing season. What pleasure this brings to see the germination process in a week or two and to watch the seedlings grow day by day until its warm enough for the transplanting process. 

Each year I find myself clearing the ground, put in more peat moss and nutrients to enrich the soil, digging holes with muscles I didn’t think I had. Planting seedlings, with little care if the dirt gets under my nails. Bend with my back to the hot sun and often kneel with the earth crushing against my knees, as I plant a seedling here and there and squeeze the dirt around the roots to help them settle in. Dragging the garden hose across the yard and making sure there is an adequate supply of water for them to drink. It does not end there. Through the long summer the yanking of weeds, dragging off to the dumpster and selecting a few for my mulch bin. Through all this ordeal of getting sweaty, dirty, hungry, thirsty, tired, it is rewarding to sit in the shade and admire the days work that was put in.

Year after year I feel like giving in and let the grass take over. Each year, I find myself itching for Spring when I can start it all over again. Each planting season I tell myself it will be different. 

This year it is different. More blogs to follow as the planting season approaches. More pictures to show of the improvement and progress My Backyard Garden has made.