This unseasonably warm weather AND the fact that General Beauregard Lee predicts an early spring for us in the south, has me thinking that I don’t have as much time as I thought to plan my garden for this year.
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I don’t want to complain, but I didn’t even have a chance to read my favorite Little House on The Prairie book “The Long Winter”. Which I re-read every year on a really cold and snowy day. Who knows….maybe the weather will change. But just in case, I think it’s time to look at my seed catalogs and plan out what I’m going grow this year.
source: beautiful raised bed potager from Mias Landiv
As some of you know, I enlarged my vegetable garden area last year so I have to build some new raised beds and plan out how I want it to look (besides deciding what to grow). Isn’t the potager from Mias Landiv the most gorgeous vegetable garden ever! I love looking at her garden photos – they’re so inspirational!.
I was working out in the cardio theatre of my health club a few weeks ago and the movie was “It’s Complicated” with Meryl Streep, Alex Baldwin and Steve Martin. O.K. movie but what struck me, besides the gorgeous house, was the beautiful LARGE vegetable garden she has! To die for! Everything is so neat and tidy!
I’m looking at some of my past gardens to decide what worked, what didn’t and what new thing I want to try for this year.
I’m so inspired to make this year’s garden better than last years.
Since I get so many gardening questions, I thought I’d start a little “how to” series next week. So if you have any gardening questions you’d like to see me answer (I’m not an expert but I have been growing vegetables for 15+ years), ask them in the comments section or shoot me an email. I’ll try to answer them and if I don’t know the answer, I’ll try to find someone that does.
As for today, I’m out moving this pile of wood chips into the paths between my raised beds!
Linking to:
I’m so excited to read your gardening series! I love looking at the beautiful photos of your garden.
I’d love to know ways I can make my garden more productive (bigger vegetables) and how to control pests.
Thanks!
Mary Ellen
The Working Home Keeper
Thank you Mary Ellen! I’ll be sure to include a post on pest control and what organic fertilizers I use.
Manuela
I need to remember to watch that movie sometime — you are the second person to mention liking it because of the fabulous garden in it (the other person is my gardening neighbor, whose name I love to say out loud “Dixie from Okolona Mississippi” — it makes me smile every time I say it). Looking forward to your series.
LOL!
I showed my husband all the pics saying, “THIS IS WHAT I WANT!”. 🙂
We didn’t put down any mulch between the rows last year as we hadn’t had a weed problem and only some grass grew between. Big mistake! The weeds grew so tall because of the wet weather that I couldn’t walk between the raised bed and one of the fences.
It seems each year something goes wrong but I learn my lesson and correct it for the future.
That’s the thing I love about gardening – not the things going wrong part 🙂 There’s always something new to learn.
Manuela
We are taking out many of our raised beds to give us more growing room. We are going to keep a few, and we need to get busy clearing out the beds and tilling it all…
Gardening is fun – I love to cook with the things we grow…
There’s always so much going on here and I imagine that with your shortened winter you’re busier than usual. You always inspire me in garden decor and with your willingness to tackle new projects. I’m so glad that I have a small garden. I don’t have the energy or desire to do all that you accomplish! I’ll be hanging out reading whatever you have to offer in the way of advice. (I will have a couple of raised beds this year thanks to you!)
What gorgeous inspiration pictures! We have already gotten in 2 seed packet orders. We can’t wait to try some new herbs this year.
I’m so glad you’re doing this series! I had my husband build me two 4 x 8 raised beds last week to start my first ever vegetable garden. For those of us who are *extremely unknowledgeable beginners, what do you recommend for the soil in the raised beds? I live in N. FL so we are mostly in the same weather pattern I believe. Do you start with seeds or plants? I’ve ordered some heirloom seeds, but i’m not sure where to begin…
I use a mix of things which I’ll address when I do a post on soil. I buy some plants and others I start from seed either early or direct sow into the bed.
Manuela
With all the hardscaping we did in the fall, I have no room for any type of garden! Plus, I have a bit of a brown thumb! LOL I will be growing some herbs in pots, however. Does that make me a gardener of sorts? *grin*
Lookin’ good, Manuela!
Don’t know why the post went with my old blog address. Please reply to this one.
I love the idea of your gardening series. I cleaned out my winter bed yesterday and put in a few more strawberry plants and will add the lettuce, radishes and green onions seeds this week. What beautiful inspiration photos you shared. Patty
We must be kindred spirits! I also like to read The Long Winter, and also The Secret Garden every year. I love looking at garden pictures and when we are traveling I try and check out people’s veggie gardens. I look forward to seeing what you do and I will show more of my vegetable garden this year. Have a great week! Cindy
Some inspirational photos indeed! I love my raised beds. I am not quite sure what I am planting this year, but I know I won’t be planting as many zucchini!
This time of year is just made for garden dreaming. We have a bit more time to dream than you do, but I look forward to seeing what you come up with this year!
I’ve been looking over my garden plan from last year and wondering if I will even put in a garden this year – or try a low water use garden. I love looking at your garden pictures too. Seems like I spend too much time fighting weeds to enjoy the veggies.
My last post is about our raised bed organic garden. I have a few photos on there. Nothing like the one in that movie, though. Here in Texas, we have a ton going already. I even show how we do our cold frames.
I’ll be sure to check it out today!
Manuela
Oh Goody! As a novice gardener this will be a great series to learn from I’m sure. I am planning to buy concrete block rather than wood to make my raised beds. I was wondering if I could do a lasagna garden type thing INSIDE the beds? And if I can afford it I’d really like to use pea gravel in the walkway area of the garden. Is there anything to know before I do that?
Our beds are ready. I just haven’t done a thing beyond that.
I can’t believe that “The Long Winter” is your favorite LIW book too. I love it and still count it among my favorite books of all time. It’s a very teachable book full of life quotes, IMO.
By the way, Today is Laura Ingalls Wilder’s birthday!
I think I finally got the new linky thing figured out. I followed you. Hopefully, I won’t lose favorite blogs at the end of the month. Sigh. I hate change.
Happy BDay Laura!
Manuela
Our beds are ready. I just haven’t done a think beyond that.
I can’t believe that “The Long Winter” is your favorite LIW book too. I count it as one of my favorite books of all time. It’s so full of life lessons, IMO. (|By the way, today is Laura’s birthday!)
I followed you on that linky thingie. I think I have finally figured it out. I hate that they are changing things up. I just know I’m going to lose some favorite blogs. Sigh. Sigh.Sigh.
Yes, it’s a pain in the you know what! I suggest unsubscribing from the followers thing and re-subscribing via another method to all of your favorite blogs. Eventually the followers service will be phased out for everyone.
Manuela
I have downsized and no longer do gardening, except my indoor herbs! I enjoy our local farmers market which is fantastic …..however they do not usually sell flowers!!
I can’t wait to get some gardening going:) Springtime is JUST around the corner! I am going to share the raised bed HOW TOs with my Honey! Have a blessed day, HUGS!
Spring Fever is definitely in the air! With a new yard we will be starting from scratch, but hope to manage a useful garden anyway. I am really looking forward to reading your garden series.
Oh YAY…I will be following this…The gardens above DO look awesome!! Yours included! Just to have something even close to one of yours would be an accomplishment…Not that I haven’t gardened…but not to that extent. With so much planning about how they are laid out and how pleasing it is to the eye…actually beautiful! now THAT would be fun. so count me in to be reading and learning here. anticipating!!! 🙂 Hugs Manuela!
Can’t wait to read it Manuela…I’m always excited about all the creative yet useful things you do in your garden!
Love,
Tracey
x0x
My first time stopping in! I can’t wait to read your Q&A series! I love to garden myself and do to the questions, thats why I started a blog. Blessing.
http://theredeemedgardener.blogspot.com/
I love to garden although it is difficult when you live in the country with many animalls around but I have planted a lot of lavender which I love and I plant coreopsis and many boxwoods in my home. We have a lot of land so we made a beautiful garden in the front of our home ourselves.
Your garden is beautiful and very large I hope you have good time as I do and much success.
I love your garden. I look forward to your next gardening post and I hope to see that pile knocked down soon. Have a great weekend. Thanks for sharing on Farmgirl Friday.
Love your garden and all the other photos you shared too! I’m planning my pottager and cut flower gardens as we speak. I can’t wait to get started and I’m looking forward to you garden series too!
Beautiful, In fact yesterday I am started to plant different kinds of flowers to beautify my simple garden.. Because I believe that one thing that left a kind of beauty at home is our garden…