We grow most of the fruit and veggies that we eat year round. I can , freeze and dry them.  I have been planning since fall for this years garden. I have aready ordered a few new seeds. I will be starting them indoors soon. I have to make myself wait as seeds sprouting are a sign of spring.  We have half and acre and probably grow food on at least 1/4 of an acre.  Be sure and read through the post in the gardening forum. There is a lot of info in them.  Babs

I've been a haphazard gardener for years - but happily and luckily, I've met a neighbor who is very good at it, extremely knowledgeable about what grows here, when to plant, how to prep, etc., and she has taken me under her wing and is offering all sorts of help and advice, including helping me plot out what to plant where and when, and how to rotate it over time.

I only grow a few items because our yard is very small and my husband likes his lawn. I would have the whole backyard as a garden if he would let me but this year he is re-planting grass back there. In the past I have had tomatoes, bellpeppers, jalapeno and serrano peppers, pole beans, zucchini, cuccumbers, radishes, carrots, garlic, chives, green onions, baby dill,cilantro, Italian parsley and basil. This year it will just be tomatoes, basil, chives, cilantro,dill and either jalapeno or serrano chilis.

I've been using the square foot gardening method after a fashion but got the book as a Christmas gift from my sister this year. Even though I wasn't doing it exactly right the whole concept of using a small area, making good soil from the get go, and not wasting seeds has been revolutionary. I am not a good gardener but have grown tomatoes, carrots, basil, and green beans to help supplement our food. Most years we have almost enough tomatoes to make enough sauce for the year, plus massive amounts of basil for pesto and enough green beans to freeze for many months. This year I hope to follow the system more carefully and have a more productive garden. We'll see.

Im going to leave this up in the air for now I think for some reason I think tomotatoes will have to wait not the herbs last year been ttotally wild but this year I can do the herbs in the storeage containers without stuffing them in the flower beds dad has thing about spraying everything in site not my herbs he won't...

CheapChic,

I plant all of my herbs in pots and they grow fine. I also grow my peppers in pots. The tomatoes, cukes and zucchini I planted in the ground when my DH didn't have grass in the backyard. This year the tomatoes will be in the ground along the back fence and everything else will be in pots.

 Yep,now is the seaons to plan your garden, and to order your seeds (if you're ordering, instead of buying seeds locally). Depending where you live, you'll need to start seeds at different times. Look up your "last frost date, then look at the types of plants you want to grow, and work backwards to find out when you need to start seeds (we're starting ours in the next couple weeks, as soon as they arrive, but we live in a warmer area and have access to a greenhouse).

 

My husband has finally gotten on board with more frugal and self sustaining living. He is better than I am at keeping plants alive so I am hoping this is the year I see some return from what I plant.

I just went outside and started cleaning  out some of my herb pots. When I removed the dead leaves that had blown into the pots from my neighbors tree I found onion shoots already popping through the soil and chive shoots popping up. Now I just have to wait for the weather to get warmer for my basil, cilantro and parsley. I can't wait for spring.