It is a new year and it has been a busy week for me. I am continuing to plan the garden for this year. I learned about Dollar Tree seed packets and bought many of them. They are a great deal at 4/$1.25 and I hope some will grow. Previously 4/$1.00. Inflation is everywhere. I am also continuing to receive seeds from the seed exchange and now have many of the seeds I want. Of course, there are always more to discover. I have been studying permaculture lately as my boyfriend wants to make a food forest. I am also learning about the native plants of central Oklahoma. I have been doing some research on which plants that grow in zone 7b are beneficial to pollinators and wildlife in my area. In addition, I have been trying to find out which seeds need cold stratification and which don’t. We are focusing on trees, shrubs, and perennials first. We will be adding pawpaw trees this year in the spring. I am quite concerned about the small fruit trees we planted last year and my barn cat since we’re in a period of really cold weather, with a few nights in the teens. We have provided a shelter for the cat in the barn and extra food but did not cover any plants or trees. I will not be growing cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, radish, beets, turnips, parsnips, potatoes, or zucchini this year, unless they happen to be given to me. All of those were unsuccessful for me last year, except zucchini. I will come back to those next year when I have more time for the challenge. For fruits, I will grow cantaloupe and watermelon this year. We also have blackberry, grapes, strawberries, and blueberries from last year which will hopefully produce this year or next. The fruit and nut trees we have so far are pecan, peach, fig, persimmon, and white mulberry. For vegetables, I will plant many which were gifted to me, including: tomato, peppers, spinach, Swiss Chard, arugula, lettuce mix, black seeded Simpson lettuce, 3 kinds of bunching perennial onions, small yellow squash, butternut squash, jack o lantern pumpkin, 3 kinds of carrots, purple tomatillo, Utah tall celery, blue lake green beans. I am hoping to grow sweet potatoes again this year since they were very successful last year but haven’t bought them yet. I have many more flowers, herbs, and legumes to plant as well as some grains like quinoa, sorghum, and amaranth. I am also hoping that the asparagus we planted last year will recover from the freeze and return in the spring. I need to expand the watering system and continue to amend the soil. I am planning to start a few seeds inside under a grow light, probably the peppers, tomatoes, tomatillo, and celery. I will start with the peppers first. We planted jalapenos outside last spring but they took so long to grow that we only got a few in late October or early November. I did end up planting more wildflower mix on a sunny hill on Saturday just before the snow on Sunday. The red clover was blooming still, and the borage was about to bloom. I did a side by side planting of the wildflower mix from the Dollar Tree and the Burpees wildflower mix to compare the germination rates. There’s certainly a difference in price but both seemed to have a lot of filler. This did make it easier to see when spreading it but I would still prefer them to fill it completely with seeds. I feel a little deceived by the large bag size and weight, when most of it is filler material. I have made yet another pumpkin soup and now only one small pumpkin remains to be cooked. I am also starting to cook the sweet potatoes but have so many left. I will roast several this week and freeze them for later. It is great to save money on food but I want to grow what we eat a lot of and some things that are expensive to buy at the store. I like knowing that there aren’t any chemicals on my food but the insects and animals also liked that and ate them up. So this year I plan to plant chives and bunching onions around my greens to help with the pest control. It is so fun to experiment in the garden and I am really enjoying learning about the plants. I think this year’s garden is going to be much better than last year’s. Patiently waiting for spring, but I am sure it’ll be here before I know it. The older I get, the faster the time goes.
Lisa Ledbetter 