Garden Daydreams

Two things happened last week that led to mid-winter garden daydreams.  First, the temperature got up to the mid forties, it rained, and all the snow melted.  Second, I got my first seed catalogs of the year in the mail.

Cue spring fever.

I have been looking through my catalogs in an effort to choose what to grow.  Tomatoes are always on the list.  Obviously there will be garlic.  I will grow bush beans this year.  I have grown pole beans in the past, but last year my pole beans tore down my pretty plant supports, and I got a total of three beans out of them!  I always try to grow peppers, but I don't get much of a yield.  There will be basil.  I'm thinking I might try to relocate my strawberry pants to a tower to free up one of my raised beds.  Also, I lost most of my berries to weird little beetles last summer, and I'm hoping that if I get them up out of the dirt, maybe bugs will be less of an issue.  Birds are another problem all together.

I enjoy growing squash, but the vines tend to escape the raised beds and intrude into the lawn, which irks my husband.  I am looking at some A-frame type structures to grow my squash on.  Maybe I will be able to grow some cooler-weather vegetables (like salad greens) under the squash frames.

Once I move the strawberries, I will have nine 3' x 5' beds to fill.  I have used a square foot gardening inspired method in the past, so I can grow a surprising number of plants in each bed.

Here's my veggie list so far (items I have not grown before are in italics):

• Tomatoes
• Beans
• Squash (butternut or sweet dumpling)
• Strawberries
• Basil
• Thyme (already in the ground)
• Garlic (already in the ground)
• Rhubarb (has its own bed, and is in the ground already)
• Carrots
• Peppers (maybe)
• Beets
• Parsnips
• Kale
• Salad greens

Any other ideas?  I have tried to start tomatoes, peppers, and basil from seed the past few years, and I end up with very mediocre results.  Either my cats eat the seedlings, or I kill them in a failed attempt to harden them off.  I think I need a grow light (and a cat-free zone).  This year I plan to just buy my plants at a local nursery.  They usually have really good deals on six packs of small tomato and pepper plants.

The temperatures have dropped again, but the snow is gone.  I don't mind winter, but I sure enjoy it a lot more when there's enough snow to go play in.  My cross country skis haven't seen much use the past few winters.