paralyzed by choice

Woo-hoo! I love the catalogs, especially this time of year, when the sun rarely shines in Motown.

I’m definitely not highly experienced with veg growing, but I got my start with herbs. Many of the easily grown-from-seed herbs are annuals in our zones, so it’s easy to change up the beds from season to season. Thankfully, most seeds are also dirt cheap (sorry, bad pun), so the investment is low.

Some easy veg includes the carrots (as you discovered), ‘maters, and beets. Don’t forget about lettuce, you can grow a bunch of heads quickly and easily…

As for canning, well, that’s a whole other experience! I’ve only been part of the boiling style process, and as a kid.

-- Living on the square...Metro Detroit

I’m planning on fine-tuning my garden this year. In the past we’ve planted lots of veggies, only to let them go to waste because we only eat one or two. .. So.. we will have:
asparagus (this is year 3 so we should be getting a really good crop this year).
peas: lots and lots and lots – I usually eat them all when I pick them and none make it to the table let alone the freezer. I love my peas!!! (My husband used to say “what’s the point of planting peas – you never freeze any!” but I eat them!!!) Anyway.. not sure what kind we bought last year but it was a terrible crop, with really small pods/peas. going to have to be more selective this year.
carrots: I want to have lots and cover them with straw so we can dig fresh carrots well into winter. They are SO much more delicious coming out of the ground in December than in the summer.
onions: lots of onions – Spanish.
tomatoes: big yummy eating ones and some firm ones good for canning.
cucumbers: to make dill pickles
potatoes: I prefer Yukon Golds because they keep so much better over the winter
beans: Rick likes to eat them right out of the garden
peppers: for canning and freezing

and the rest will depend on impulse planting! :)

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

Oh, the memories of sugar snap peas fresh from my grandmothers garden. Sometimes we’d manage to fill up a bowl for dinner, sometimes we’d keep eating them as we opened the pods!

I’m trying to get my wife and daughter as excited as I am about growing more veggies than we’ll know what to do with… I”m even trying to pick a couple spots for apple or pear trees – so they’ll get enough sun, but be out of the way enough for playing in the yard as well. We have limited growing/playing spots – most of our 1/2 acre is a steep (north facing) wooded lot. We do have a few 150+ year old maples out front that may be “going” in a few years. I could always wait for then to put the fruit trees there. – at the risk of neighbors taking all the fruit!

-- southern NH. - smack dab in the middle of 5a and 5b - with lots of shade and full sun, in all the wrong places.

Getting a little more into the planning… I’m moving my wife’s flower garden at the end of the driveway (only non- lawn place that gets full sun) and creating lots of new places for what’s there… then I’m dividing that up into 60 squares! Now that I know what my limits are for this year… now I can start marking pages, planning and plotting…

4 rows of 15 squares…. thats a lot of tomatoes and carrots!

-- southern NH. - smack dab in the middle of 5a and 5b - with lots of shade and full sun, in all the wrong places.

You’ve got an ambitious year ahead, Scott! Keep us posted with plenty of pics…

-- Living on the square...Metro Detroit

I’m excited for you!!
(I can hear Bob now—- use “Sketchup” to design it!)

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

Yeah, lets draw brussels sprouts and pumpkins in sketchup! I had a hard enough time duplicating squares and making curved shapes! Give me pen and paper anyday.

-- southern NH. - smack dab in the middle of 5a and 5b - with lots of shade and full sun, in all the wrong places.

I hear you Scott. I’m pretty good at learning computer programs but Sketchup… well… I guess I’m not motivated enough.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

Tried it, and meh. I’m better with paper and pencil (and I’m a computer guy).

-- Living on the square...Metro Detroit

Boy…you’ld think I was Sketchup crazy or something…..:)

Sounds like fun Scott.

-- Bob, Carver MA USA, Zone 6b, Annual Rainfall 48" http://capecodbaychallenge.org

yeah, or something…. ok, now add the veg and flowers ;)

-- southern NH. - smack dab in the middle of 5a and 5b - with lots of shade and full sun, in all the wrong places.

Bob.. do you have the greenhouse already or is that on the “to do” list?

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

Nice Sketchup, Bob!! I’d love to have a garden space like that!

-- Living on the square...Metro Detroit

Hehe Scott….I have the tomatoes started in the greenhouse.

Deb, It was on the to do list. I’ve decided against it for now since we are probably going to be selling our house next year. The garden layout is as shown…raised beds and a grape arbor on the shed. If anyone is interested I can post some plans for the greenhouse. It should be easy to build and relatively cheap.

I have a couple of old sliding door panels that I’ll be making some cold frames from shortly. Just a few hay bales makes for a great place to start to get a head start on the season.

I started by laying out my whole yard in detail in Autocad many years ago. When Sketchup came along I couldn’t resist. Here is the Autocad base of our whole property with Sketchup added for most of the landscaped area.

and a closer look…I still have some holes to fill in.

-- Bob, Carver MA USA, Zone 6b, Annual Rainfall 48" http://capecodbaychallenge.org

I heard of starting plants in hay bales … how does that work exactly? Could the bales be outside if it is spring?? (I’m in Michigan) Or is it a ol’ wives tale?

-- "A perfect garden is just a garden to be in-perfection. Mornings to work on it and evenings to pause and look at it." Southeast Michigan, Zone 5a/5b

oh look at you!!!

yes. more info on the bales.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

Plans on the shed please. I so want to build one. I am merely a lowely tomboy with a hammer and some scrap wood and windows. Any help at all would be great. Love the sketchup. You go on with your bad self!

-- wjl - 5a Indiana

I can’t imagine leaving heaven and starting over; but I guess the “starting over” would be fun.. hey, that’s really what I have been doing this past year. I have a vision and am slowly working towards it!! :)

Patio door.. great idea. Dang, and I just saw one offered at Freecycle.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

i like the look of the geodesic domish sheds you see advertised in a few of the magazines/catalogs we’re likely to receive. They sell steel connectors, between which you attach your own 2×4s to make the building as big/small as you want. Looks simple enough – sturdy, and a little out of the box!

In our next house, i may build a couple. – a greenhouse, and a ???

-- southern NH. - smack dab in the middle of 5a and 5b - with lots of shade and full sun, in all the wrong places.

Bale/Hay/straw Gardening : very interesting:

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:ITzlqhtwMwkJ:msucares.com/pubs/infosheets/is1678.pdf+growing+plants+in+hay+bales&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=ca&lr=lang_en|lang_fr&client=firefox-a
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/lab/msg0223060424968.html

-- Eklectic, Follow my Bliss, South East Ontario 5a

hmm… that’s neat. good solution for poor soil. Something to try someday.

-- southern NH. - smack dab in the middle of 5a and 5b - with lots of shade and full sun, in all the wrong places.

well isn’t that interesting.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)