Getting ready to grow

I’m so excited, I have ordered my first ever seed catalogues!! Last year I put in my first ever real garden. It was a lot of work, but I really enjoyed it. I learned that I really don’t know much about gardening, but I didn’t let that stand in my way. Danna and I went to the garden shops and garden sections of stores and bought starters and seeds. We built some raised beds, and got to work. We planted corn, tomatoes, two kinds of peppers, garlic, two kinds of onions, green beans, peas, cucumbers, radishes, carrots, basil, three kinds of lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, and pumpkin.

We have varying degrees of success. A couple of our seeds turned out to be something other than marked on the packages. For instance our corn did well but it was not sweet corn, and not worth eating. Our red bell peppers were just plain ole green ones, and our spinach was actually basil. Likewise our cucumber starts where not all English Cucumber, but they were all cucumbers. On the plus side, our Giant Pumpkins were massive. I donated the largest to the local elementary school where the kids made guesses on how much it weighed. A neighbor girl won with a guess that was just one pound short to the 97 pound total.

This year I’m hoping to do better with seed choices and starts. I want to find a really good pickling cucumber for this area. I put up about 20 quarts of pickles and that wasn’t near enough. I only put up a couple of quarts of tomatoes which was really pitiful! I learned that peas and beans need more light, and I really want to get the right corn seed this year!!

In an effort to do better I have ordered catalogues from two places within the Willamette Valley hoping to find seeds to meet my needs. I just can’t wait for them to show up in my mailbox. Everyday I check my box hoping to find them, but so far no show. I feel like Ralphy looking for his Little Orphan Annie decoder ring. (Christmas Story reference) I have my graph paper and pencils all lined up and ready to go. I’ve got my plan for expanding the garden another 10 feet by 3 feet. I’ve been exploring new trellis options, and I’ve got my tools primed and ready to go. I’m also going over my Northwest Gardener handbook.

Stay tuned for the growing.