In which January is the best time to plan the garden stuff

The seed-porn catalogs started arriving in the middle of 

the big sn*wstorm.  PERFECT timing!

These are the catalogs I could reach without getting out of my chair.

We are still eating produce from the 2021 garden, of course.  

The pantry includes canned beans, canned cherries, canned apricots, pickled cucumbers,
pickled beans, applesauce, plum sauce, and pear sauce, 

The "jam cupboard" contains rhubarb marmalade, cherry jam, blackberry jam,
and rum-plum-cardamom jam.

The shelves in my office house butternut squash, sweetmeat squash
and pepita pumpkins (and art, because this is how we live)

There's garlic in the kitchen, and bags of corn, blackberries, and tomato sauce in the freezer.  

We try to eat the last of the preserved produce just before we harvest the fresh stuff from the garden...which means we start planning our gardens now.  Because we plant so many different things, Monica and I have to plan our gardens together to make sure we have enough room for everything.

Some seeds get started indoors, which means we need to make room in the grow-op.

In January, the grow-op incubates baby trees and bushes, including sequoias started
from seeds, and berry bushes started from twigs.

Tree seedlings in 2020.  We are better at growing trees now, and have a lot more.

When we are ready to start the first vegetables indoors, the baby trees will move outdoors to the greenhouse, and the slightly-older trees currently in the greenhouse will move to a protected space in the yard.

We do this kind of shuffle almost all year-round.

So, what goes in when?  I use a garden-planning app to help with that.

This chunk of screen-capture shows the useful calendar feature

The app also sends me reminders every week about which seeds should be going into pots, which seedlings should be re-potted, and which plants should be going into the ground.  

Here's our basic calendar:

Mid-February:

Start brassicas (cauliflower, broccoli, etc) and tomatoes indoors

Tomato children, 2021

Late February:

Potatoes and peas can be planted in the garden if the soil isn't saturated or frozen.

If conditions are unfavorable, this can wait until they improve, as late as mid-March

Early March:

Turnips, calendula, cauliflower and broccoli can be planted in the garden.  Officially, sunflowers need another month before direct planting, but it doesn't hurt to throw out some seed--they often do fine.

Mid-March:

Get peas, potatoes, and spinach in the garden if they aren't already there.

Early April:

Move brassica starts outdoors.

Plant another bunch of spinach in the garden, start harvesting early spinach.

Start pumpkins and squashes indoors.

Mid-late April:

Tomato seedlings can move to the outdoor greenhouse.

Throw more sunflower and calendula seeds in the garden.

baby tomatoes (plus plastic dragons) in the greenhouse, 2021

Early May:

If the soil is warm, plant beans and corn.  Sometimes, this doesn't happen until mid- or late-May.

Mid May:

Start harvesting peas and spinach.

During cold/wet spring years, this is the earliest the beans and corn can go into the garden.  

During warm/dry spring years, it's possible to transplant and/or directly plant squashes and pumpkins into the garden.

Move tomatoes into the petite orangerie.  In 2022, tomatoes will grow all season in very large tubs inside the orangerie.  

Late May/Early June:

Pumpkins & corn go into the garden.  Plant beans in the garden if they aren't already there.

Harvest peas and spinach.

We had enormous spinach harvests in 2021, lasting almost 2 months

By June, all of our summer crops are in the ground and growing...and by August, the garden looks like this:

How do you plan your garden?  Do you plant in straight lines, or blocks, or swoops?  Tell me your favorite crops!  

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