Planning for 2012

So, as I said yesterday. we are in the planning stages for the spring. We learned last year that deciding in April that you want to start a garden with no planning whatsoever isn't the best idea. We learned a lot!!

Last year, almost our entire garden was a bust. We got a few peppers, which were hot peppers that we got from our neighbors. Unfortunately, the only one who LIKES hot peppers is Sam. Most of them went to waste, and it was a terrible shame. We also got a few of the white cucumbers, but, we forgot to save any seed from them. (oops!) We did get quite a few beans tho! Monk decided that he really likes the beans from the garden a lot better than the ones that we get from a can. None of the carrots or onions came up. We got quite a few tomatoes. A few watermelon were had, but they were small at best and then the bugs got them. The pumpkins were attacked by vine borers and didn't make it. :-( And despite our best efforts, our corn didn't make it either. It was REALLY hot and dry here this past year, so, I'm hoping that this next year will be much better!!

This year we are trying Broccoli, onions, eggplant (maybe Monk will like it if we grow it ourselves... LOL), tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, beans, corn, cucumbers, watermelon, pumpkins, cauliflower, peppers, and some celery, basil, parsley, cilantro in containers. I also want to plant some "beneficial flowers" in pots in my garden as well. We're busy trying to shred a bunch of papers and newspapers for the beds this next year. I'm not opposed to weeding, but, having the paper in there not only makes it almost impossible for the weeds to get thru, it helps keep the moisture in the ground REALLY well!

We're really hoping that we will be able to put in a coop in late winter/early spring and get some chickens for our back yard. I've come up with a pretty good design for a coop, and I know how I want to make the run and everything. I'm just a bit worried about how the dogs are going to react to them being in the back yard considering they bark at the neighbors Guinea hens whenever they get out. I think I may have to get some type of electric fence or something to keep them away. I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do with them. I may have to place the coop on the outside of the fence behind the mulberry bush. If we go that route, we will have to put pad locks on all the doors and such so the neighborhood kids can't let them out.

We've still got some time tho, so all of these plans are still brewing, except for the garden, those are what we will be planting! So, I've got a little over a month left to get all of my beds worked and "wintered" (which probably should have been done at the end of the season....) before I get to start working on new plants! So exciting!