It's that time of year for starting your seeds!

I have been crazy busy lately, thinking about girls scouts and meeting planning, new baby planning, that I almost forgot about a very exciting time of year.  What I really mean to talk about is garden planning!!!!!!

Can you tell how much I love to garden?

Really, it gets me so energized just thinking about this season. For me gardening is like an addiction. I would spend hours a week just watching my plants and fantasizing about the overfilled bowls of juicy cucumbers, strawberries and tomatoes.

The thing about having a garden, or a garden that grows produce, is that you need to plan ahead. Sometimes months ahead. For example, hot peppers needs to be started indoors 12-10 weeks ahead of time. So while all of you are only dreaming of the warm summer months and the ground has not quite unfroze from the winter, these babies need to start taking action.

Last year was my first year and I felt pretty successful considering I was a beginner. We had tons of cucumbers, green beans, tomatoes and assorted peppers. This year I really hope to expand and try out some new vegetables as well.

What I am continuing from last year
Red and Green Bell peppers
Mini yellow bell peppers
Jalapeno
Serrano
Cayenne
Santa Fe peppers
Cucumbers
Green beans
Carrots
Cherry tomato

What I will attempt to introduce this year
Leafy greens
Roma tomato
Strawberries
Watermelon
Herbs of all kinds
Squash
Zucchini

With these new additions I've had to come up with a better plan as to how I am going to lay this all out in my back yard. While I would love to have a full blown homestead, I also don't want the entire back yard to be garden boxes. Plus, the girls really need their play house this year :).

Space-saving garden ideas...
Grow tomato plants in containers-I plan on have three large containers, really they are decorative terracotta pots, that will sit on my deck and not only grow tomatoes for the family but act as landscaping and greenery for the deck! The deck gets the most sun so this concept will be ideal for saving yard space.

Trellis cucumbers on deck or an arbor-I plan on trellising my cucumbers this year on my back fence. This will provide some additional privacy and space saving by not having to trellis them in the middle of the yard.

Border the entire yard-I plan on mixing some beautiful flowers and produce along the border of the yard about two feet off of the fencing. I will add in some edible favorites to the mix as well. This will also compliment and aid in the pollination of the plants. Remember to use organic and safe fertilizers when you are planting edibles near flowers.

What are your gardening plans for this year?