April Garden Planning

One of Dad's 2+ pound tomatoes.
Made a delicious sandwich.

2012 Cherokee Tomatoes.
Not large, but full of character.

This blog is about growing food - 100 pounds of it.  I'm not a farmer, but an apartment dweller in a high-density city.  We see plenty of snow - no 3 season gardening here, and mid-April could still bring freezing temperatures. I've got lead in my yard soil, too much to grow food.  But, I am fortunate to have a sunny deck full of containers, and a nice sized plot in a community garden.  Can I grow a hundred pounds of food this summer?  That's the challenge.  The benefits: healthy super-fresh food, interesting varieties, saving money, reducing my carbon footprint, plus of course the intrinsic joy of digging in the soil and those first delicious harvests.

I dedicate this blog to my dear father who passed away on August 1, 2012 at the age of 100. Jay Furman understood the joys of gardening.  He weighed his produce too.  Picture albums contained countless shots of tomatoes on the scale, peaches on the scale, cucumbers... you get it.  He planted grape arbors in his 80’s and grew tomatoes on his retirement home rooftop into his 90’s.  The Beefsteaks I ate as a child were legendary in size and taste.  He bartered surplus tomatoes for Jersey corn from the local truck farm and gave away many juicy gems to grateful friends and relatives.   We ate seasonal and local – hothouse tomatoes never appeared on our table in December.  I am thankful to my dad for helping me to appreciate the joy and wonder of growing my own food.

It’s spring in New England.  Well, almost.  The forecast is for sleet, so once again I dragged my deck pots of baby greens into the living room for the night. In the temperate Northwest, gardeners are snipping chives, and harvesting microgreens.  But here, I am planning, not planting.  So, I am still thinking about what I will grow this year.  How do YOU decide what you to put in your garden?

These are my criteria:

What’s tasty?  Last year my collard plants were ornamental.  I don’t have any great recipes for collards, so I rarely harvested.  This year I’ll be growing more of what I like to eat: swiss chard.

What’s beautiful? Purple! Shiny purple eggplants, striking purple yard long beans, cute purple peas, and maybe even some purple kale.  Shiso too – it’s prolific, colorful, and makes a great pesto.

What’s unusual?  Jamaican Calaloo.  My co-worker sent a recipe – I have to try it.  Oh, and those Styrian pumpkins from COWS orchard– no hulls – can’t wait to try them.  Thanks for the seeds Helen.

What was scarce last year? That one’s easy – Ground Cherries.  Not one ground cherry made it from the garden home last year.  They are just too tasty.  This year, I hope to have at least a dozen plants. I'm starting seeds now.  Two varieties: Pineapple and Aunt Molly's.

And then there are the tomatoes… and onions… and potatoes… and squash… and of course, basil.
Can't decide or new gardener?  Try a preselected Collection from Baker's Creek Heirloom Seeds.

What will you grow this season?  How do you decide?  Want to do your own 100 pound challenge?