How I Decide What To Grow In My Garden

 

   Let's talk about planning your garden for the growing season...

If you're like me, you like to plan ahead. I like to keep a record of everything I grow in my garden every year. I keep an up-to-date list of everything I grew or tried to grow for the year and the outcome. This helps me not only identify what grew in the garden and what didn't grow so well, but also gives me a "shopping list" per se of what I need or would like to grow in my garden for the next year. 

The three things I think about,

There are three things I like to think about first when it comes to planning my garden. I have them listed below. 

1. What did I grow the previous year- This is my list of every single thing I planted, whether it produced or not. This is a simple list to help me remember and keep track.
2. What produced well - By this I mean, what produced a lot in the garden? What did we eat regularly, and what was I able to preserve easily. Sometimes I get so caught up in planting and seeing what I can grow that I don't necessarily grow things that my family eats. I, myself am a lover of vegetables, and my family, not so much. That leaves me trying to find the best way to preserve what was harvested.
3. What did I buy at the grocery store- I like to think about what I have purchased at the grocery store. Is this something I can grow myself in the garden? Last year I added a raised garden bed and planted a variety of lettuce and spinach in it. Throughout the year my family eats a lot of salads, and I thought it would be better for us to try to grow everything we needed to create our salads at home. It flourished; we had an ample amount of salad growing right there in the backyard and harvested correctly the lettuce lasted for a good amount of time.

Once I've gone through this, I have a pretty good list of what I NEED to grow and now I focus on what I WANT to grow. Every year I come across a few items that I want to attempt to grow in my garden, something new that I want to try.  A few years back I planted lemon cucumbers, round yellow cucumbers with a mild sweet flavor. I loved them, but they grew like crazy, soon they took over a good portion of my garden and there was an abundance of fruit that no one but me and my sister enjoyed eating. I ended up taking a lot of them in to work to share, from that I knew that this was not something I would grow again. 

This year I want to try a few new things, two items are for crafting purposes 1.) Bushel Gourd are a large ornamental gourd that can be dried out and used for making bowels. 2.) Luffa Gourd, as a young fruit you can eat the luffa once it matures you can dry it out, remove the skin and seeds, and use the remainder of the dried-out luffa as a sponge for either your dishes or as an exfoliator in the shower. Garlic, onions a variety of potatoes are a few others I hope to try out this year. 

A few things for you to consider if you're new to gardening: 

When deciding what to plant in your garden, there are a few things to consider. 

• Think about the climate you're in, the amount of sunlight the area receives, the soil type, and the amount of space you have. 

• Also consider the maintenance required for different plants, as well as the amount of time and energy you are willing to devote to gardening. 

• Research plants that grow in your climate, the local nurseries, and ask friends and family for advice. 

With careful planning, you can create a beautiful and productive garden that you can enjoy for many years to come.
It's exciting getting things ready, laying out your plan, going through the different seeds and things. How do you decide what you grow in your garden every year? I would love to hear your thoughts and tips.