Garden Vows

This year, I vow to have a cleaner garden. 

I vow to place newspaper in rows after they are hoed to smother weeds, or I could use cardboard. 

I vow to pull up anything I did not plant this year.  I usually call these "volunteer" plants, which I generally allow to take over because I don't have the heart to pull them. 

I vow to rework the herb bed to gain some sort of control as a gardener.

I vow not to grow anything unless I have a use for it in hopes to not take any area of our garden for granted. 

 

I feel as I should be saying these vows standing at the edge of our garden holding dirt in my hand. 

 

I will be starting seeds this weekend.  It can be hard to determine when to begin seeds indoors, depending on where you live and the last frost date estimate.  We always plant our garden on or close to May tenth, that is just how my husband's Grandfather taught him.  Therefore, I semi-calculate and begin my seeds sixs weeks before the second week of May.  As a rule of thumb for me, I get antsy and begin them a couple of weeks earlier than that and have to baby leggy plants for the last two weeks because they are ready to reach the sun but I can let them yet because it's not time.  On the other hand if I wait too late I am afraid that something won't come up and beginning them early gives me more time to start over if something didn't sprout. 

 

So far, my plan for this Friday and Saturday is to buy seed starting mix and make my little newspaper pots (which tend to mold sometimes but I like them anyway).  By the way if you go that route and begin to see mold on the sides, go ahead and transplant them into a bigger pot.  I have seeds that I have saved from last year and seeds that I have purchased to get me started. 

 

I have a small list of our freezer needs and what we use the most of so those are most important to grow more of. 

 

Do you have any garden vows this year?