In this post, you'll be picking what you want to grow. And exploring the many options a garden offers. We are going to keep you're first five minutes of planning your garden very simple. 

Let's focus on picking 5 plants you want to add. to your garden this year.
Here's great way to think about what you want to harvest.
​ What do you eat or want to eat from the garden?

Lettuce for sandwiches and salads? Herbs for sauces, and dressings? Tomatoes? 
​

Lettuces that I love to grow include: spring mix, mesclun, boston bib, romaine, and buttercrunch is my absolute favorite. 

Tomatoes that I love to grow:
Slicing Tomatoes: Kentucky Beefsteak
Cherry Tomatoes: Tiny Tim & Red Currant
Paste Tomatoes: San Marzano
​Salad Tomatoes: Sun Gold and Black Cherry
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My top five items I grow are first fresh herbs, then lettuces, cucumbers, tomatoes and finally tea blends. 

When I started I chose just a few herbs and now I have established plants as perennial like my thyme and rosemary, yet others continue to self-seed like basil and dill. 

My Herbs: Oregano, Thyme, Rosemary, Basil, Dill, Cilantro

My Tomatoes: Kentucky Beefsteak, Black Cherry and Sun Gold

My Lettuces: Bostin Bib, Buttercrunch and Romaine

My Cucumbers:  English, Armenian

My Teas: Spearmint, Mint, Echinacea, Rose Hips, Feverfew, Chamomile, Anise Hyssop


My suggestion is that you pick one from each category to add to your garden this year, and then continue to add in the following years. So many of my herbs now self seed and so many of my teas are perirenal. I have placed in bold all the garden plants that are perennial above. And in Italic all the plants I leave to go to seed in the fall to produce self seeded plants in the spring. 

This year I am starting both flowers and veggies inside from seed. I know the winter months can be wearing for some and others love this season of rebirth and renewal. I personally love these quieter winter months of reading, sitting by our fire, and seed starting. 

I hope you'll join me on this journey of growing your own plant babies for your garden. I'm including a video of how I like to start my seeds. And in the next post I'll talk about carrying for your seedlings. 

​Happy growing!
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When starting seeds, you'll need:
​Seeds - Water - Jiffy Seed Starting Mix
Pencil - Popsicle Sticks or Card Stock - Labeling pen
Seed Starting Trays - Leftover Plastic trays from Nurseries - Strawberry Containers from grocery - Milk Jugs all work great. 

I use a combination of the above items. In my video today I have an aluminum tray & the toilet paper/paper towel holders to separate the starts.

Here's my list of inside seed starts for the year:
Snapdragons
Cosmos
Cilantro
Basil
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Sweet Peppers
Shisto Peppers
Eggplants
Black Beauty Zuchini
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My list of direct sow plants for our cool/warm seasons:
Peas
French Radish
Spinach
Buttercrunch Lettuce
Romaine Lettuce
​Boston Bib Lettuce

My list of direct sow plants for hot season:
Watermelons
Spaghetti Squash
Cantaloupe 
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Perennials

Adding this year... 
Calendula
Chamomile

2022 Blueberries
2021 Strawberries
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2023 Catmint
2021 Spearmint
2021 Peppermint

2022 Plum Tree
2022 Pear Tree