I've Got The Itch | 2014 Garden

I've got the itch, and I know the way to scratch it......shop for seeds!

As the end of winter nears, I start dreaming of our garden.  I absolutely love it!  This year, I'm going to focus on my favorite......herbs.

I just love herbs.  I love visiting the plants and smelling them.  My love for cooking with fresh herbs has grown tremendously.   A fresh batch of ricotta with sea salt along with herbs from the garden leaves me thinking I've died and gone to heaven.  So, so good!

My original garden, before the raised beds, was an herb garden.  That garden no longer exists, and I miss it so much.

Last year, I felt brave and gave seeds a try.  I'm so glad I did.  It was very successful and actually pretty easy.  I prefer direct sow versus starting indoors.  All of the packets below can be direct sow...herbs, lettuce, kale, spinach, onions, swish chard, arugula, etc.  This year, we are only planting a few vegetable plants, one tomato, hot and sweet peppers.  Maybe a zucchini.  Those are best started indoors and transplanted when the fear of frost has passed.  Something new this year for me is broccoli.  I'm cautiously optimistic about the results.  I'm not going to set my expectations too high on this one.  I hope it's easy because I eat a lot of broccoli!! 

Actually, Arugula is new for me, too....well, sort of.  I grew a plant by accident one year.  Weird, huh?  I finally had to taste the plant that looked like a dandelion in a pot.  I was very pleasantly surprised when it had the familiar peppery taste of arugula!  Yum!  I love this stuff.

How our raised beds look at the moment after some TLC.  Now to add some compost and peat moss and we will be on our way to our 2014 garden!  Here is a view of our 2013 garden.

As you can tell from the pictures above, I chose to go with Burpee seeds which I used last year with great success.  You can order online or visit Home Depot.  I have also had success with Home Depot's garden ready vegetable plants.  They always grow to be strong and healthy mature plants.

Below, my original herb garden, was started from garden ready plants found at the local farmers market.  They were also very healthy plants that matured wonderfully.

Happy gardening!