Garden preparations before summer
I’ve had a box garden since we moved into our house 7+ years ago. This will be our eighth garden season. When I lived in an apartment, I did container gardening and I stuck with tomatoes and basil in pots. I remember being so excited to try more than tomatoes and basil. I really want to get my garden looking great for the summer.
In years past, I’ve tried lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, basil, oregano, cilantro, peppers (green and red peppers, plus jalapenos), cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash and one year I had a random cantaloupe pop up because of the compost we were using. Last year, my son picked out carrots to grow, and we got just a few.
Last year, I did spearmint in a pot, but I didn’t use it as much as I’d hoped. (I think my husband used it a lot in his water.) My oregano looked awesome, but I also let that go to waste by not picking it and dehydrating it. I’m going to do better this summer. I’m making that promise to myself. After planting vegetables, what I really want to do it have a bed filled with a variety of flowers. I think that will look amazing in the summer!
This past weekend, my mom and brother met me at the store to pick up dirt. My mom steered me in the right direction of what I needed. My boxes already have dirt, but I need a little extra to get things in a good place. So I picked up 5 or 6 bags of organic compost and manure. (Seriously, I was about to get vegetable soil and she gave me a stern talking to about what I ACTUALLY needed.)
Tuesday, I finally weeded my boxes. Oh they were bad. Come April I’ll plant what can withstand cold temperatures since my area can see frost for several more weeks. And with my mom’s guidance, I’ll purchase some plants for early May. (Mom, if you’re reading this, I may need more than just guidance. I’m not sure how much I will be able to bend over to plant. Just saying.)
(It’s still a work in progress. But, what progress!!)
The vegetable goal this summer:
Lettuce
Spinach
Basil
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Zucchini
Butternut Squash
Green/red peppers
Jalapeno peppers
Oregano
Since we let our son choose one vegetable to grow last year, I’m hoping he’ll be excited to do the same again this summer. He loves carrots and broccoli, so I may encourage broccoli this time.
I’m excited. I’m hoping I’ll come out of the newborn fog in time to get things in the ground, so we’re not super late. I’m also hoping that I’m not as busy towards the end of the garden season, so I can focus on using all of the herbs. That was my biggest mistake last year.
Do you garden? What are your favorite vegetables or herbs during the summer?
We have similar boxes! And similar veggies except I’m going for arugula instead of spinach. I’m pretty bad about not using my oregano very much, though I did get around to doing some oregano-infused olive oil last year. It’s already toasty in my area so my leafy greens went into the ground this past week š
Ohhh!!!!! Good post!!! Can your Mom help me with what I need to put into my raised bed? Last year I added mushroom compost and manure. Is that right? How much extra did you add?
Last year was the second year for the bed and this is the third year.
I recommend growing garlic, too, if you can make space. It’s very easy and very rewarding, and storing it for the winter doesn’t involve any canning or anything.
We have started our garden as well. This year, we hope to be able to grow watermelons, which we have never tried to grow.
That’s what I spend this last weekend doing, adding new dirt to my garden! Yay for veggies!