The grass is still yellow . . . OK . . . brown.  There is a hibernation about the land though the weather was slightly balmy today.  Uncharacteristically, Indiana  hasn’t seen much snow this winter. 

My garden still lingers in the decomposing glory of the previous summer.

(Read:  we didn’t prepare it for winter.  If you will remember, our basement pooped.). 

But sprouting must begin.  This year I am prepared. 

Last year my garden was a weed field.  Having a newborn on my hips, I lacked the manpower to manually transform the previous owner’s neglect into a harvest. 

Last year, I had some GREAT email updates telling me how to figure out my frost-free date, when to start certain sprouts, and coordinating the hardening off of the tender shoot with its entry into the good earth. 

Sadly, the emails remained on the computer.  I never put them into practice.  I didn’t want to waste ink printing them.  And searching for them in Gmail was tedious. 

Truthfully, I was lazy.

There was a L. A. T. E. start to the garden last year.  The seeds . . . remained in their packages until May?  Mel’s Mix rested untouched in a plastic tub.  The green houses empty.  My thumb was too clean. 

I have turned a new leaf.  June, my Kindle, has helped me.  I can upload all sorts of documents onto her . . . and prop her up anywhere. 

This week, I decided that June would learn about gardening.  Though I have read Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew . . . and gardened as such for 5+ years . . . I found that I have struggled with timing. 

(By the way, you can now get Square Foot Gardening on your Kindle . . . oh the joy!)

The Engineer and I have successfully created several square foot beds . . . but I lack the forethought to plan out when I should encourage green life to begin under rich compost. 

Seriously.  I see the stack of seeds and I become overwhelmed.  (Thank you PCOS and Thyroid disease.)  Dates and depths and species names blur. 

I imagine all the seeds screaming at me, “Pick me.  Pick me!”

Because I desperately want to turn the money pit into a sustainable and practical garden . . . a garden that actually helps our grocery budget . . . I decided to purchase another gardening book.

Though I have most of the contents of said book in my inbox somewhere . . . I now have all of the information in one spot. 

On June.  At my fingertips.  In one place. 

It is glorious.

There are two books.  The Gardening for Beginners takes Bartholomew’s book and condenses it.  You learn how to create Mel’s Mix (aka glorified and nutrient dense dirt), sow seeds, build a raised bed, etc.  Planting by Color takes it one step farther.  It tells you what to plant, when to sprout, when to plant, and how to plant according to the region of the country you live in. 

Like a robot . . . I am planting by color . . . when I am told to.  I don’t have to make any decisions.  Because as much as I *heart* gardening . . . the planning stage stresses me out. 

I am actually on schedule.  Today we planted kale, cauliflower, parsley, and broccoli.  I added onion, too. 

Now I have to order a few more seeds . . . namely Chinese cabbage.

What are your garden plans this year?

Previous gardening posts:

• Growing a garden in a small space (at our old house)
• building a raised bed
• Deer visit our city garden as does Peter Rabbit
• Our greenhouses and how to involve kids
• The design of our new garden
• spiritual lessons from a garden

P.S.  I would love for it if you signed up for my new newsletter!!! I am stinkin’ excited to unveil this in the upcoming weeks . . . along with a new website design!  In addition to receiving my blog posts, occasionally I’ll send you a special treat or coupon in a newsletter.   Actually, there will be newsletter ONLY giveaways!

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