Springing forward..

It is snowing this morning. Along the coast of Maine the snow is heavier and there is more to dig out. It is winter. Thoughts turn to spring as I ponder what my seed order will look like this year.If all goes according to plan, we should be in our new home by June which is right at the height of planting season. Which may work but life could be a little crazy and we may not get everything in the ground that we hope. In the meanwhile, I sit here at my kitchen table trying to plan what sort of garden we will have this year.

A good friend was able to buy some seeds from the Fedco tent last fall at the Common Ground Fair for me. They are end of season seeds sold at 10%off. So I have some of my favorite varieties. Contesca Romanesca zucchini, red chanteney carrot, space spinach...

The plan for the spring will be to plant all sorts of greens at our current home as soon as we can work the soil, so around the 3rd week of April if the garden has dried in parts. If we plant these in cold frames we should enjoy an early harvest. We have parsnips over wintering in the ground that were planted last spring but we will probably not get any in the ground this year. Peas get planted by Patriots day, so we have peas on the 4th of July, we will not planting those this spring but I may try for a fall crop. I have garlic in the ground that I planted last fall, just in case. I have transplanted the bulbs in spring before but usually from just a few that volunteered from the garlic patch from the prior year. I am not sure if it would be wise to transplant them so late in the season as they usually form their scapes by late June.

We will probably buy tomato,pepper and basil plants this year instead of starting seed at home. I will have to think about potatoes. Maine had late blight last year. I was not able to save any of my seed from last years crop. It is a big staple food for us so I may forgo planting them this year until we know our new garden space better. We may be able to time a corn planting.

I guess this is the direction we are going to try for. We will plant heavy for a fall garden at the new house. Carrots, broccoli, kale, brussel sprouts, cabbage, greens ( heavy on the spinach) and beets. We will try to extend our harvest well into winter using Eliot Coleman's Four Season Harvest Method.

For those other veggies we are going to get a share in a CSA. These folks will be our farmer. They serve our nearest farmer's market and also serve the farmer's market near our new home. They also have a dairy CSA so we will be able to get milk from them as well. CSA members also are contacted about U-pick opportunities.

The one thing we are looking forward to are the 4 apple and 2 pear trees at our new home. They are mature trees that are big producers. I think will add a new meaning to apple season for us.

So, are you planning your garden yet?