Garden!!

I am so excited to start my garden this year.  This will be the first year (since I lived in my childhood home) that I will actually have a sizable garden that I don't have to share with strangers. (That is not a slight to community gardens, which I think are wonderful opportunities to build a sustainable community and teach life skills.  All the other homes I have lived in have not had a yard or have had plots belonging to others.)

This is my garden plan.  You can't really see it at all (sadly.  I spent a lot of time drawing this to scale....lol).

I'm hoping to produce a significant quantity of our own food.  Next year we'll dig in a few more beds and another project on the horizon is to build a greenhouse out of reclaimed windows and doors.  

This year I dug in three new beds.  The little map is sideways; the three large beds are on the right side of our yard.  The beds on the top middle and bottom right were already here.  We've got lots more space.  When we're all done, there won't be any lawn left!

This week I'll be planting out:

- Carrots: 'Dragon' and a mixed variety of purple, white, and yellow carrots.

- Beets: 'Chioggia' (a red and white bullseye), and 'Detroit Red'.

- Lettuces:  An asian mesclun mix and a mild mesclun mix.

- Onions:  'Walla Walla' for storage, and 'Evergreen Bunching'.

- Chard:  'Bright Lights', which have five color stems.

- Spinach:  'Space' for summer and fall harvest.

- Peas: 'Karina Snap'

- Grains:  'Multi-hue Quinoa' and a red variety of Amaranth.  Both are gluten free.

- Strawberries: 'Mignionette', starting from seed for next year.

- Herbs