Without further ado, and I’m typing that ironically because there’s been much ado, I have finally decided on my garden design for this year.  Not true. This is not a year long plan. I’ve really only made it through spring and summer with the understanding that what I plant in the fall will be similar to what I planted in spring.  But then I’ll have to figure out the cover crops situation for the winter.

Incredibly lucky for us, when we bought our house, the property already had a lot of the established elements of a successful garden thanks to the previous owners.  This has made a huge difference. I can’t imagine the amount of work it would take to get even one plot/bed set up and I have six ready to go raised beds that are 4’ x 8’.  The owners said everything was organic and based on the little bit of digging I’ve done and the the little bit I know, the soil seems super healthy. There are sooo many worms.  With the wind at my back, here is what I hope to harvest this growing season.

Squash Peppers Squash Garlic	Strawberries Strawberries Melon	Lettuce Kale Spinach Romaine Cucumbers
COMPOST	Beans Beans Carrots Beets	Tomatoes Tomatoes Peppers Peppers

From my other posts on starting seeds, you know I have a few seedlings to move outside and then I’ll be direct seeding most everything else.  I did buy four strawberry plants too.

My friend Mary shared this planting calendar from UMD Extension Service and I found it really helpful.  Remember how I was saying I just wanted to open a book and see a bunch of garden diagrams already plotted out?  Well this kind of helped me start grouping things together.

There are already a bunch of fig trees, a ton of black raspberry bushes, 4-5 blueberry bushes and two blackberry bushes on our property.  In addition there are two pear trees that give fruit, and a pair of apricot and a pair of plum trees that they told us aren’t bearing fruit.  

This will be an exciting year to see what worked well and what can be improved upon next year. By all means, share your experience and ideas with what grows well and any other tips.