Have you started receiving your Spring nursery catalogues yet? I have!  

You know, you can grow a lot of things in containers these days. I've grown peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, strawberries and blueberries in containers. As a matter of fact, I'm going to have a blueberry bush on my deck so I can just open the kitchen door and grab a handful for my cereal or pancakes in the morning instead of going out to the garden (more of a walk, plus stairs).

Actually, I'd love to be able to grow everything on my deck. Then, I wouldn't have to fight so many wild critters over who gets to eat what I'm growing.

A few years ago, I had maybe a 6 foot by 10 foot space and grew tomatoes, radishes, cauliflower, onions, peppers, strawberries, beans, cucumbers and sunflowers in that space, plus I had a miniature peach tree in there, too! It's amazing what you can grow in a limited space.

Wow, Lori! Your garden sounds like what mine will be. I'm going to be trying my hand at a bunch of those weirdly-colored veggies this year, like purple carrots, yellow tomatoes, orange watermelon, things like that. I have a lot of seed potatoes of different colors (purple, blue and red with the color all the way through) from last year. I got a lot of potatoes last year but none of them got very big. Some are the size of peas! I don't know what went wrong but I'm going to try it again this year using last year's crop as seed potatoes. They're starting to sprout, so I'll be planting them early in pots inside.

I can't grow pistachio nuts, though. I wish I could! I LOVE them! I have almond and hickory nut trees already and will try a butternut tree next year. I also have bunches and bunches of wild raspberry bushes but ordered a golden raspberry bush. They're supposed to be sweeter than the red or purple.

I'm getting so excited about next Spring's garden and we still have January (usually the coldest month of the year here) and February (usually the snowiest month here) to go through. In March, I'm hoping to start my cool season plants like cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, beets, etc. but I have no idea what the weather will be like. This past Spring, we had so much rain I lost almost everything in my first planting. Actually, I think that's what went wrong with my potatoes. I had to make a second planting once the rain slowed down and they didn't have enough time to grow very big.

Still, I have to keep reminding myself to slow down. I want to get my tomato and pepper seeds started NOW, but I have to wait until late February at the earliest. Sigh!

Your lucky to have your own land so you can make those kinds of decisions on what 'odd' things to plant.. I unfortunarly have to follow whatever miss Jane wants to plant & can.. I am hoping for a small plot of my very own so i can try some of theos different veggies alos. They fascinate me as to how do they get such strange colors???lol..Have fun with your garden, its great therapy, isn't it? love you marty..lori

Yes! Gardening is excellent therapy! I remember, years ago, going to court because I had a car accident right after I took my car in to have the brakes fixed. I hit a truck because I had no brakes. I also had the most stupid lawyer on the face of the Earth. He literally froze in front of the judge! I lost the case because of him and was so angry that I stomped out of the courtroom and went home, then proceeded to scream and slam doors, stuff like that. (The accident had put me in the hospital and I was without my car for a month.) I was so PIZZED!!!

I realized that slamming doors just wasn't good enough to vent my anger and frustration, so I went to a plant nursery and bought 5 bushes, which I brought home and started planting. For some unexplainable reason, there was a layer of bricks about a foot down throughout my entire yard. I had to dig larger holes than I needed for each bush so I could get the bricks out. This took me well into the night, after the street lamps came on.

But, when I was finished, I felt SOOOOOOOO much better!

OMG!! i am so sorry you were in an accident & got hurt, BUT you have me laughing so freaking hard i peed my pants!! now i'm off to shower as i have an MRI first thing in the morning.. & its only like 25 degrees here, so i will need to blow dry my hair too.. you are so funny...I can just picture you out there in the dark digging out bricks from your yard.....thanks i needed that..lori

I agree with that! I want so badly to start my tomato and pepper seedlings inside but it is a bit early for them, unless I can grow them in my basement. I have grow lights set up there so I could try some things early. I grew some potatoes in a large flower pot last year. I was quite surprised to get so many from a pot!

But, planting outside right now is not worth the effort. I'd have to dig through about 12 inches of snow to get to the dirt and that's pretty frozen right now.

I could also start some lettuce inside. I did that last year and managed to grow some really nice plants and get a few salads out of it.

Hi cd. I didn't know you may be moving. Could you tell me why or is that too personal? There's no way I'd want to think about moving right now, at this time of year. I moved in January once and it was no picnic! There was snow and ice covering everything! Ever try to carry a fish tank while walking on ice? NO FUN! LOL

I hope that nothing is seriously wrong which is why you may be moving. I'd much rather think it's a good thing. You have me worried now!

It's because of where I am renting wont do any thing that need to be fix they told us to stop doing the kitchen because they were going to put a new put all new stove fridge cupards which are falling apart I tile the floor and they got mad !!! the windows need screens on them they told me to get them when I started they get mad the ceiling is looks dirty because of the flood in the year 2007 I been talking to them about it since then.
Then that's only part of the it we went with out water for 3 days in July 2009 when we put the water back on I got another flood in the house in the basement which I really needed I lost all my summer clothes winter clothes winter coats as well.I am going look for a nice 2 bedroom condle with a yard not appartment.
I not sure where I am moving yet but thanks for letting me know about Janary I most likely wait till it's better moving weatter.
cd

Thank you, dragon! I'll go there first thing tomorrow morning. What a great way to start off the new year! Talking about my favorite subject, gardening. Awesome!

I belong to a place called davesgarden.com. They have a forum and member exchange thing where you can exchange seeds or sell them to other members (cheaply, of course) and they sell theirs. I like the exchange thing but it's rare to find someone who has seeds you want who also wants seeds you have. The prices asked for seeds is always extremely low so it's a great place to hang out, too.

When I got my first catalog, I couldn't wait to open it. Guess I have too much time on my hands, huh? LOL Sadly, these catalogs have me pining for Spring and it looks to be a long, cold, SNOWY winter. Our snowiest month is February so I'm a bit concerned that we've already had so much snow in December, which is so very not normal. I may have to dig under a few feet of snow to get to the ground once Spring finally does hit!


But, I will try idigmygarden tomorrow. Thanks so much for the tip!

Hi Gabs. I'm trying so hard to hold off! Actually, I did buy some new fruit trees and they've been delivered already! I look outside at all the snow and think how in the world am I going to plant them? They're in my garage right now where it's very cold so the trees will stay dormant but I want to get them in the ground as soon as I can. I think my son will need a chisel and big hammer to make holes large enough to plant these trees since the ground is frozen solid. But, he's young and in good shape so...

Hmmm, both of my boys will be visiting tomorrow. I'll nonchalantly say, "A plum tree would look GREAT right over there, don't you think?" Then, hand him the chisel and hammer. He'll get the idea. LOL

As for all the rest, most will have to wait until April but I can start some thing inside in early March. I'll be trying my hand at peanuts this year. I've never grown them before and they do take longer to produce peanuts than the growing season we have here so I'll have to start them inside, too. I already have the pots and soil ready.

Also, the potatoes I grew last year, which didn't get very big at all, I've saved to use as seed potatoes this year and they've begun sprouting already, so I'll have to get them in pots before long. I can plant them outside when it's warm enough.

But, I am also very tempted by these catalogues. I want so badly to start my garden right now!

Oh no Mentalward it is to cold lol just stay in the nice and warm
I only go out at the moment when I have to and that is to take Gissi out lol and even he is feeling the cold and he is not fighting his Coat either so he must be cold lol
So just be patient and stay in the warm for now