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I generally start to break out the gardening catalogues at this time of year, it's SUPPOSED to be blustery and freezing outside, and the garden-planning is supposed to bring relief and hope for spring - however, today was so warm when I took Casey on our walk through the woods that I got overheated. In Nova Scotia. In February. This is not good. Not good at all. I'm very scared for the health of our planet... :( Did I mention we had a RAINSTORM and all of the snow we had accumulated melted away. *sigh*
However, on a brighter note, I hope here to be able to keep you all up to date on my garden, and we'll see how the plans I make now actually work out! As with many plans for many things in this world, the actual exectution is very different from the plan it came from. :)
So, here's the plan, in it's earliest stages:
I haven't actually ordered from the catalogue yet, but here is my rough draft of my order from Veseys (a great company in the neighbouring province of PEI, who specialize in developing seeds for short growing seasons)
Veggies===========
Yellow Wax Bush Beans (Gold Rush, excellent freezer, 54 days maturity)
Baby Beets (Pablo, hybrid, deep red, good for processing or fresh (and will mean lots of great borscht), 45 days maturity)
Romaine Lettuce (Green Forest, strong bolting tolerance, 70 day maturity (I prefer iceberg lettuce; however, the darker the lettuce, the healthier it is for you, so I'm trying to eat Romaine-types more.)) :)
Tomato (Determinate (Non Staking), Cabot, very popular with Maritime and New England gardeners, bright red fruit, approximately 69 days maturity from transplanting (which definitely means it'll have to be started indoors - I've never tried to grow my own tomatoes from seed before, this should be interesting)).
Flowers===========
Calendula (Victoria Sunset, gorgeous big orange tipped yellowish centre flowers, 18-24" high)
Nasturtium (Empress of India, Heirloom variety, dark green foliage with electric red flowers, 12-16" high)
Poppy (Ladybird, the original Flanders Field poppy, I'm growing this gorgeous red beauty partly as a patriotic way to remember our fallen war dead).
Pansy (Snow Pansies, can survive over winter. I'm choosing a lovely red colour - are you seeing a theme here? Yes, I'm sticking with reds and oranges this year. 8" high)
And I'm going to be buying some fish fertilizer as well, I'm trying to stick to the organic stuff, but boy, will it stink!
I've asked my fiance, Dave, to build me a little cold frame (we need those here to protect our plants in the early stages from late season frost, etc. The plants can stay outside and get lots of sun, but still be protected from the elements - it's like a mini-greenhouse).
So, that's the plan in it's earliest stages. We'll see how it goes! :)
The Family