Planning 2011

We stopped at our local Whole Foods yesterday and I couldn’t help but pick out some seeds from Botanical Interests. March is literally around the corner which means that I’ll be planting and transplanting in about eight weeks or so. 90% of the time, the last frost averages around April 24th. With the exception of beets, cilantro, chives, chamomile and lettuce, I’m going to make sure that I don’t get TOO excited and plant before the last chance of frost has completely disappeared.

This year, I’ll have 4 plots. Each plot is 20′x30′ or 600 square feet, which means that I’ll be working with 2400 square feet of garden! I’m going to be purchasing about 20-22 cubic yards of compost from Organimix, at $17 per cubic yard, that’ll run me about $374.00 for the compost itself, but it is so worth every penny. That doesn’t include the shipping cost, which will run about $150. It’s a business expense so it’s all good! Thanks Uncle Sam, we pay for your stupid shit and now you’re paying for mine. (except mine isn’t stupid)

Even though it’s only February 27th, I’m making sure that I’m totally prepared this year. I’ve devised a little table of when to plant the pumpkins to make sure I don’t harvest them too early. Last year I had pumpkins in August. This year I’m going to stagger the growing so that I harvest at various times (Sept 1st, Oct 1st and Oct 25th).

• Beets, cilantro, chives, chamomile and lettuce will be sowed as soon as I’m done tilling the plots
• Pump-ke-mon – sow June 1st for a September 1st harvest
• Aladdin – sow June 1st for October 1st harvest, sow July 1st for a October 25th harvest
• Jack Be Little – sow second week of May for a September 1st harvest, sow second week of June for an October 1st harvest
• Lumina – sow May 15th for an October 1st harvest
• Howden – sow June 1st for an October 1st harvest, sow June 20th for an October 25th harvest
• Magician – sow June 15th for an October 1st harvest, sow July 1st for an October 25th harvest
• Iron Man – sow June 15th for an October 1st harvest
• Prizewinner – sow after first frost (this is a BIG one)

I’m going to attempt to grow tomatoes, peppers and artichokes this year, which means that I need to wrap this up and head over to the garden center and get some pots so that I can start the seeds! Hard to believe, but spring is right around the corner!