HSV Garden Challenge ~ The Plans

I’d like to say that I have well-laid plans for what our garden will look like this year, but frankly I’m at a loss at the moment. IF the weather were still lovely, I might have more in mind, but after a little teasing 80 degree weather we are now getting SNOW and freezing rain.

 

Makes me want to go right out and plant a garden.

Or not.

With our recent move, I’m also interested to see what exactly will be popping up in our new flower beds. I’m a bit sad that some of the lovely perennials we’ve planted over the years at our old house won’t be here, but that will all be part of ‘the planting plan’ this year and in years to follow.

BUT…all that said, here’s the rough idea of what we are hoping to plant this coming year. And boy, we have a lot of work to do!

Window Boxes

I love having color and hanging flowers where I can see them, so the plan is to get these window boxes off the deck and hanging on the railings.

Last year I got smart and took pictures of the window boxes that I planted so that I could duplicate the colors/flowers this year! Hopefully, the boxes will have some of this loveliness growing inside. A few of the flowers planted in my boxes last year {and hopefully this coming year}: wallflower {yellow}, red superbells, and white alyssum. There was also a lovely purple flower {below}, but I can’t remember the name of it, so I’ll be taking my pictures along with me to the nursery.

  

Small Beds

The side of our house has some great stair-step style gardens that will be great for different herbs. We had two different types of mint growing at our last house {that we left behind}, so one of the first things we’ll be buying is more apple mint and chocolate mint to start growing and use in our tea {yum!}.

I’ll also be planting basil, oregano, and whatever else catches my eye at the nursery when I pick up our plants. Fresh basil, mozzarella and tomato is already sounding yummy!

Porch Planters

The previous owner left us some big ol’ planters that sit on either side of our front door. Right now they are looking a bit homely, but come May/June, these will be spilling over with color and greenery ~ more superbells and alyssum for sure along with some spikey plants to give them a little height.

The Big Garden

Somewhere in this area  {right around the middle back} we’ll be tilling the ground and building it up to plant the food part of our garden. Our biggest challenge right now is figuring out how to keep all the various wildlife out of the garden so that more food ends up on our table! We also have to finish {ahem} our chicken coop before we get ambitious and start on this too. :)

On the planting plan for this area is a few types of lettuce, peppers, jalepenos, tomatoes {big and small}, carrots, cucumbers, several zucchini, several squash, and maybe I’ll get brave and plant a watermelon plant too! I know that squash and zucchini tend to multiply like crazy, but the last few years our plants have gotten off to a good start and then suddenly rotted at the base of the plant. I’m hoping that having multiple plants will at least get us SOME fruit this year!

That’s it…I think! Share and link up what you’re doing with your garden, window boxes, and pots with the Homeschool Village Garden Challenge starting today! They have some great prizes lined up and if you have a preschooler and are participating, they also have a special ‘bonus pack’ to go along with my Garden Preschool Pack!!