Spring Fever

Has spring fever hit you?

I know for me it has really hit hard! We planted garlic in the house a few weeks back to try to curb the spring fever, but it didn't help a lot. This Missouri weather is crazy! Two days this week have been sunny and in the 60s, then the last few days it snowed and is below freezing again. I am counting down the days until Spring and time to get outside in the garden.

What to plant in the garden?

I have thought and thought about this. For our family this year, I think we are going to plant a few tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, peppers, and maybe some corn. It seems that every year we plant so much, and then it becomes overwhelming for me to take care of. I am hoping that if we narrow down what we plant and tailor it directly to what we eat, it will help me feel motivated enough to go outside and work the garden. I usually plant cucumbers for pickling; however, my family doesn't really like pickles so that isn't the best idea. I love eating raw cucumbers on salads, or by themselves, so I need a good variety for fresh eating. I love frying up zucchini, or making zucchini boats, so we will probably grow the black beauty variety. I am not really sure what kind of tomatoes we will grow yet. In the years past, we have had good luck with Arkansas Traveler Tomatoes. We will probably go ahead and plant that variety again as well; however we have a tomato allergy in our household now that we have to watch out for. Our plan is to can and preserve the tomatoes for use later on. We are hoping the food allergy will be outgrown. We eat quite a few banana peppers and bell peppers, so we will probably grow those as well. We always grow corn, but then never really do anything with it so i am not sure if we will use our precious space in the garden for corn this year. We have to narrow down what we grow because our garden space has been cut in half of what we used to use.

Sunflower

Do you use a green house to start your seeds?

In years in the past we have used a green house or started our seeds indoors under grow lights. This year unfortunately, our green house went belly up in all the storms with high winds that we have had. I keep looking at green houses online but I don't know if I want to take the jump and try to buy another one or attempt to build one. The advantages of a green house far outweigh the negatives. You can protect your seedlings from frost, you can start your seeds ahead of time, and if you have a big enough green house you could grow everything in the green house without transplanting out of the green house. I want to get a poly tunnel type green house this time around. We have had a few different types, and so far haven't found one we really have loved. Do you have any suggestions?

Until it is spring time, don't mind me over here planning out the garden space and what seeds we are going to use. I will also be watching videos, and seeing what I can improve on. I am hoping to get a few cool weather crops started in the next month. I can't wait to start our garden this year and hope that it turns out great! I will leave you with one last thought; you will only get out what you put in.