It's cold in Massachusetts. I love the holiday season, and that helps me get through the frigid months of November and December, but come January, I'm ready to move on to spring. I start imagining my beautiful Zinnias, Peonies, and Hydrangeas, and thinking about how delicious the cucumbers and tomatoes taste when they're freshly picked from my garden. I recall how fun it is to take my kids out to the vegetable garden and watch their excitement at finding fresh Snap Peas they can eat right off the vine, or how we call it "Christmas in July" when we dig up the potato beds and see what we got this year. By February, I begin thinking about and planning my vegetable garden layout and strategy and which seeds I'll start indoors and when.
My daughter helping to dig potatoes in July 2023Some of the many potatoes we dug up in the 2023 season
If you've caught the gardening bug, you know that it takes real determination to succeed at more than your low-maintenance perennials. I've done a lot of research and persevered through many trials and failed attempts at various endeavors. I've figured out how to outsmart the family of woodchucks that takes up residence near us every year, and how to keep squash bugs at bay so they don't take down my whole family of cucurbits before I'm able to enjoy the fruit of my labor. I plan to share what I've learned with you with hopes that it will give you ideas, or perhaps prevent you from making some of the mistakes I've made. The learning journey will of course continue, and I hope to take you along with me for the ride!
