A good plan is imperative to a great garden! And now is the perfect time to do it – especially when it’s too cold to go outside and dig around. It has definitely been tea and cuddling weather lately!

I start all my planning with a big long list of everything I want to include in the garden. Without years of gardening behind you, the best place to start is your own favorite recipes. You’re much more likely to enjoy gardening when you use all the veggies you’re raising!

• - Big salad family - Make sure you have plenty of lettuce, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes (maybe some radishes too) in that garden!
• - Pizza and pasta family - shift our focus over to some basil and big paste tomatoes so you can can your own sauce this season – it’s better than anything store bought, I promise!

With those staples in the bag, we can meet the other goals of our gardens. My garden is filled with green beans, pickling cucumbers, and sugar peas - all perfect for encouraging my kids to forage and snack right in the garden. Want a garden that also provides pollinator habitat? Reach for fruiting veggies like Mexican Sour Gherkins or eggplant, as well as Sweet Alyssum, Snapdragons, and nasturtiums for a diversity of bloom types that provide nectar all season long.

Try at home:

1. Make your dream garden list - everything you’d love to grow
2. Circle the vegetables your family already uses most often
3. Star the plants that would make your garden special to you (kid-friendly snacks, pollinator favorites, new varieties to try, spicy treats, you get the picture . . .)

With your list in hand, the next steps will be to answer the three most important questions about each planting: Where will it grow? When will it grow? And how much space will it require? But those questions we’ll have to look at next week!

If you need any help, don’t feel shy about shooting me an email and setting up a planning session at nick@homegrownnurseries.farm​

All the best and stay warm out there!

–Nick