Planning the 2014 Garden

Each year I say I’m done with gardening but when spring rolls around, I am ready to start planning for the year’s garden.  In years past, I have gone crazy with the amount I have tried to grow and it lead to me feeling overwhelmed and eventually I give upand let the weeds take over.  This year, we are keeping it simple!

Todd despises spring because he knows I will have requests for the upcoming garden.  He stated that the best part of last year’s garden was when he got to mow it down!  So while having dinner in early February, I sprung it on him that I wanted to try pallet gardening.  He immediately rolled his eyes and sighed.  “But wait,” I told him.  “Hear me out!  I only want to grow 4 vegetables this year.”  That got his attention.  After thinking about it for a couple of minutes and my promising that he wont have to do too much work to prepare for the garden this year, he was on board.

So, what does pallet gardening look like?

You can go to one of my favorite blogs, One Hundred Dollars A Month and take a look for yourself.  Mavis is an awesome gardener!

PHOTO CREDIT: One Hundred Dollars A Month
Please check out this website to learn exactly how to pallet garden!

What we are planting this year:

We are planting only 4 varieties of vegetables this year.

1. Squash (zucchini and yellow squash) by seed
2. Yard Long Green Beans by seed
3. Cucumbers by seed
4. Tomatoes by seedling

Supplies Needed:

• Pallets
• Compost/Soil
• Seeds/Seedlings
• Trellis

The only expenses we will have this year for the garden will be a half cubic yard of  soil (approximately 1,000 lbs) and the seeds/seedlings.  I expect to pay no more than $50 for the garden this year.  We have pallets that we got for free last year from Todd's place of employment.  We have also been composting, so we have some great compost to add to the soil we will purchase.  For our climbing vegetables (green beans and cukes), we will be using pallets!

PHOTO CREDIT

Please note: the pallet garden is great for vegetables with shallow root systems.  For tomatoes, we will be stacking 3 or 4 pallets on top of one another to create a taller raised bed for their root system.

One great thing about the four items we are growing this year is that these vegetables (yes, I know tomatoes are not considered a vegetable!) are prolific.  I have a hard time sticking with something that I cannot see results quickly.  With this produce, we will start to see results fast and a lot of them!  The first garden Todd and I ever had was a raised garden and it was the best garden we have ever had.  I am hoping that we can duplicate those results this year with the pallet garden while keeping the weeds away!

Plans for the Established Fruit

We have several fruit trees, bushes and grape vines.  My goal this year is to begin transplanting the fruit to the house next door so that when we are at our home base in the RV, we can enjoy the fruits of our labor.  This will include transplanting blueberry bushes (right now, they are just twigs!), red raspberries, blackberries, and cultivating concord grape vines from clippings off our established vines.

This year, I really want to focus on providing our fruits and vegetables with the nutrients they need to grow well and provide us with an abundance of produce!

What are your plans for the garden this year?

What vegetables are you going to grow?

Are there any fruits you will add to your garden?