Time to start thinking about the garden!

For most of us, the holidays are now behind us and even though we won’t have nice weather for a bit, it’s time to start thinking about the garden.

We all have different ideas on how to grow and how to start our plants.  I do a mixture of things.  My best starts, however, come from my Aerogardens.  I have the garden insert for both Aerogarden Bounty and Harvest.

—-> Aerogarden Seed Starting System

It’s probably still a bit early to actually get the seeds started, but you might as well be ready because spring will be here soon.  I know that some people actually start plants a lot earlier, but I don’t have anywhere indoors to keep them after they outgrow the Aerogarden seed starter.

I have collards and other greens growing in two of my Aerogardens right now, but in a couple of months, I will be changing over to the seed starters.

Which brings me to seeds.  I have pretty much given up on cucumbers … and the local ground hog absolutely loved (devoured) my carrot greens last year.  So, I am probably not growing those this year.  I do start my peppers, tomatoes, and various other plants in my Aerogardens though.  The garden starting systems are really great for me.

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Aerogarden Supplies

I saved seeds from one of my sisters tomatoes from last year, but I will probably buy a couple different varieties too.  Saving your own seeds is definitely a money saver … especially if you like to grow unusual varieties.  Seeds can get expensive.

I have a bunch of seeds from last year, plus the seeds that I saved, but I need a few things still.  These are at the top of my list:

Tromboncino Squash – these are much less prone to the squash beetles.  I have never had a problem with squash beetles when I grow this squash.  I have been planting these for a few years now, but I always eat the squash as a summer squash … before their seeds are mature enough to save.

I saved my own Calendula seeds last year and I think I saved Nasturtium too.  I saved dill and beans … so I guess I still need some good peas to start in the early spring.  Peas are the first vegetable that I get to harvest from my garden.

I would like to try growing turmeric again this year … I grew it a couple years back.

And, ginger is awesome as baby ginger as the short season here doesn’t really allow for full grown.  The baby ginger is great pickled too!

I do need to figure out what type of peppers that I want to put in this year.  I’m pretty sure habaneros are going to make the cut.

I love Pikliz made with the habaneros.  I know that recipes usually call for the Scotch Bonnet, but the Habaneros are hot enough for me!  I use Caribbean Pot’s recipe for the Pikliz but I just sub out the Scotch Bonnets for habaneros.  My favorite way to eat Pikliz is on a sandwich or burger instead of lettuce and onion.  It brings a bit of  heat and also has a nice crunch!

I’m not sure jalapenos will be on my list this year … they are so unpredictable in how hot they are.  One may be spicy and the next may have no taste at all.

I am going to put a list together so I don’t forget anything!

And, this is the fertilizer that I use:

• AgroThrive Fruiting
• AgroThrive All Purpose

I also use CalMag occasionally.

Botanicare CalMag

I mostly grow in containers because (as I said earlier) the groundhogs like my garden.

Here are my containers:

I have a Garden Tower:

I also have three GardenStalk gardens.  Two are in the garden and one is on my back porch.  They are a little more affordable than the Garden Tower pictured above.

The rest of my garden is either in half wine barrels or big metal troughs.

Of course all these are previous pictures as it’s snowing on this cold January day.  I can’t wait to start working in my garden though … the garden is my happy place.

This past year, I grew passion flowers, but they didn’t fruit due to the short season.  They sure did bring in a lot of bees though!

The flowers are beautiful too!  My husband enjoys taking photos of the bees and other critters in the garden.  The passion flower vines should come back this year … I sure hope they do.

I love hibiscus tea, so I grew Roselle Hibiscus this past year, but again since we have a short growing season, there wasn’t enough time for the flowers to bloom and form the calyces that are harvested for making tea.  I did eat a few of the leaves (which I like better raw than cooked) but I didn’t eat many because I didn’t want to disturb the plants.  I think I will try growing them again but this year with the expectation of getting only leaves and enjoying them more.

I started the hibiscus in my Aerogarden … it grew well and transplanted easily.

The hibiscus gets really big and I missed out on all those sour greens!

The hibiscus is the first barrel on the left and also the third barrel.  I also planted it in that metal trough on the right.  Until looking at these pictures today, I forgot how splendid my garden was.

I am so excited about the next outdoor growing season.  In the meantime, I am going to enjoy my small harvests from the Aerogardens that are growing in my kitchen now.  I also have one more Aerogarden that I need to find a place to set it up.

I made mistakes and not everything flourished, but I learned a lot.  Maybe this year will be better!

Happy gardening … soon, really really soon!