Getting Ready

We were really hopeful for a white Christmas this year, but that sneaky storm front moved about 30 minutes south of us and drenched everyone else in a coat of the white stuff. While I'm not sorry to miss out on the travel headaches or being trapped in my house, I do hate to miss out on that excellent source of nitrogen for the garden. That's just how my mind works.

I'm not back to the blog full time yet, mostly because there just isn't much to talk about, but I do want to check in and let you know...

1. I am still here.
2. I'm preparing for my 2013 garden. 

I've been acquiring seeds for a month or so and I've just about got everything I need. I actually did a count of my crop list this year and shocked myself by realizing I'm growing 80+ varieties! This is what happens with addiction runs away with you, folks. What can I say? I like variety. To be fair that includes my beneficial-attracting flowers, all herbs, and 3 seasons worth of veggies. See, that's not so bad. This number doesn't include any existing perennials, shrubs, or bulbs. So I could safely say that over the course of the year I'll have 90-100 varieties of plants and shrubs here in our yard. Each has a specific purpose, I don't keep anything that isn't useful.

If you would like to see the garden plan, click here.  I have been using GrowVeg.com to plan my garden and I love it. It's like paper dolls for gardening.

The day after Christmas I got some grow lights. I'll be starting onion seeds in January so it seemed as good a time as any to make the investment. Naturally, I couldn't wait to set up my new toys. I will be starting my seeds in my office. Hopefully this will prove to be a decent enough location until I can get a greenhouse someday.

There are a few things that need to be done in the garden in January. 

• Get a soil test (if you are in NW Arkansas, you can get one free at the Extension Service)
• Add compost and other soil amendments. 
• Work in any soil amendments if the soil is not frozen to get ready for early spring crops. 
• Sprinkle some loose leaf lettuce seed on a prepared bed. Just sprinkle the seed lightly across the surface, but don't cover it. As soon as the weather conditions are right, they will germinate giving you the earliest possible harvest. 
• Prune fruit trees. 
• Make newspaper pots for starting seeds. (make them early so they are ready when you are!)

Tomorrow we are going to have a movie day to start making our newspaper pots. Looks like I'll need a lot of them this year!

Are you getting ready for the 2013 growing season?

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