2022 Garden Prep & Planning

With the hope and inspiration of Spring upon us I’m determined to keep my 2022 garden prep & planning at the top of my priority list.

Easy peasy, right? Eh… maybe 😉

See, if I’m being honest here (which I intend to be), the last couple of years have a bit of a blur with all of the external (and internal) chaos that has abounded and my concrete-sequential brain has not been as organized as it has in the past.

I’m happy to say, though, that the fog is lifting and I’m feeling very excited to be a bit more on the ball as we slide into the 2022 growing season.

Seeds

While I’ve been largely working off of seeds purchased and gifted a few years ago (2015 & 2016, specifically) I decided it was time to renew our seed inventory this year and made some fairly large purchases to round everything out.

If you’ve been growing your own food for more than a few years you may have noticed that some seeds are becoming hard to find or are in low inventory. Whether that’s due to supply chain issues or seed crop failures to the extreme weather (or climate change), even at our small scale, it’s all made us a bit nervous, so it feels good to have a good variety back in stock for this year’s Kitchen Garden.

Starts

With our walk-in-cooler conversion to a small grow room we’ve relished the opportunity to start several hundred seeds that we’re meticulously caretaking while they get their roots under them, size up, and prepare for the true growing season ahead.

Seeds that have been started include:

• Artichoke
• Aurora Peppers
• Basil (Genevese and Dark Opal)
• Broccoli
• Brussels Sprouts
• Cabbage
• Cayenne
• Cucumbers (lemon)
• Jalapenos
• Kale
• Luffa
• Okra
• Peas (Snap)
• Peppers (Sweet – Red, Orange, Green, Purple)
• Shishito
• Spinach (Bloomsdale)
• Swiss Chard (Rainbow)
• Tomatillo (Green and Purple)
• Tomatoes (Roma, Amish Paste, Yellow Taxi, Yellow Brandywine, Various Cherry)
• Tulsi

This week I hope/intend to add Calendula, Marigolds, Nasturtiums, Chamomile, and some more Basil to settle in under the lights.

Sow

Seeds that will be directly sown in various plots in and outside the Kitchen Garden between now and mid-May include:

• Arugula
• Beets
• Bunching Onions
• Bush Beans (trio)
• Carrots
• Corn (Sweet)
• Kale
• Pole Beans (Scarlett Runner)
• Potatoes (German Butterball)
• Pumpkin (Winter Luxury)
• Quinoa
• Radish
• Summer Squash (Early Prolific Straightneck)
• Turnip (Purple Top)
• Winter Squash (Butternut, Red Kuri, Thelma Sanders Sweet Potato
• Zucchini

Now, if we can keep the weeds at bay, the ground mulched, the drip irrigation working properly, and the critters away we should have an amazing year!

The truth is, though, you never have all four at the same time and so we’ll simply do the best we can and trust in the goodness of the earth to provide for us as best as it can with our support.

Do tell…

Are you growing some of your own food this growing season? I’d love to hear all about it if you are 🙂

xoxo,

M