Garden Planning

Since I've never grown a garden let alone planned one out, I needed some extra help this year. Through Pinterest I found Smart Gardener and signed up (it's free!). I was able to plan a garden using my zone, plot size, and sun angle.

Then you get to go and add all the vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers you want and arrange them in your virtual garden which will then reflect perfectly how you should lay it out in the real bed. They have a handy feature which allows them to arrange your garden for you based on all the variables. You can move and adjust and make everything perfect for you and your space. If you add a seed variety that won't have enough time to grow, it warns you.

On top of all that they give you weekly email reminders telling you that you should start -something- now.

For first time gardeners, this is great. In fact I could only find one downside... I didn't have enough room in my proposed garden for all the seeds I'd bought.

...bummer.

So, after that crushing disappointment, I re-grouped.

I decided that I'd grow my Red Wonder Wild Red Strawberries, Thessaloniki Tomatoes, and Dill in containers. My Schoon's Hardshell Melons are going to be in a separate raised bed on the front bank (where the most sun is available). The Arikara Sunflowers don't have a home yet, but I'm thinking Gramma's flower garden. The vegetable garden will contain: Blue Lake Bush Beans, Kuroda Carrots, Boston Pickling Cucumbers, Amish Deer Tongue Lettuce, Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce, Cimmaron Romaine Lettuce, Little Marvel Pea, King of the North Peppers, and Early Straight Neck Yellow Squash.

That's it so far, except for the blackberry bushes I'll be transplanting from a friends hillside. They'll go out with the blueberry bush (only one right now, his friend died) in my miniature berry patch.

As an aside about the blueberry bush. It did produce berries last year, but we didn't get any because I didn't know enough then to throw a darned screen over it! The reason it produced without a friend (blueberries need another bush to produce berries) is because there is half an acre of blueberry bushes across the road, owned by the Greenhouse. (It's awesome having a greenhouse/nursery across the road!)

I know it's not a whole lot, but this is where I'm starting and I am content to see what this endeavor will bring.

*As a side note, I was not compensated in any way for this review by the author(s)
of Smart Gardener, I just found it truly helpful and thought to share it.