Sunday, February 24, 2008

Sunday morning fantasy gardening

I was going to be very deliberate and methodical this morning as I perused garden catalogs. I was going to sketch out my 21 raised beds and come up with a plan for each one of them, determine whether I needed to order seeds, order them online, and put into writing a plan for getting everything accomplished this year.

Then I found pages 80-82 of the Pinetree Garden Seeds catalog, where they have not seeds but roots and plants: asparagus, hops, rhubarb, blueberries, elderberries, cranberries, wintergreen, lingonberries, blackberries, strawberries, and raspberries. I want them all. I'm trying to figure out where to locate Deb's Berry Patch, and imagining selling homemade jams and jellies at the farmer's market.

The thing is, I'll have a lot of other work to do this summer on the house, and I'm not quite ready to draw up a complete permaculture edible landscape design. But I do think it's time to make a commitment, and start some asparagus and raspberries. And lingonberries. And hops. And...

6 comments:

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

OMG! Asparagus and lingonberries- I love those! And you'll need hops for your micro-brewery. And blackberries, you know they sell them here in town at Cub for a ransom? I'll drive up and help you man your booth at the farmer's market if I can pre-shop!

Anonymous said...

I'm having the same problem here. I think in Winter we want so badly to see something green and growing that "our reach exceeds our grasp"!!!! I want it all!!! And NOW!!!! :-)

Anonymous said...

Although I've moved my asparagus twice in two years and have yet to harvest any :) I'm glad I threw it in the ground when we first got here - despite my benign neglect the plants def. get larger and larger every year. This year's experiment is to move a roadside patch into the garden and see how it does. I wouldn't want to harvest it where it lies - way too much run-off and the development it borders uses a ton of pesticides and herbicides (it's a golf course community)

Deb said...

Lynne- it's a deal. So how do you like your lingonberries? Although I want to grow them because they are part of my Scandinavian heritage, I confess I would not know what to do with them.

Denise- Yes, I think that's it. Everything is possible when you're sitting at the table on a February morning.

Shannon- Asparagus is a big commitment, isn't it? Luckily I don't have to worry about too much traffic, or pesticides here.

RuthieJ said...

My asparagus patch is so sad. I know I'm doing something wrong because we usually only get enough for a couple meals.
I planted some elderberry bushes 2 years ago and they fruited already last summer--not much, but I'm optimistic for this year. The jams & jellies are some work to make, but there's nothing better than knowing you made it yourself. Good luck Deb.

Deb said...

RuthieJ- Do the birds like your elderberries? I'm thinking wine, maybe jam for them, and I've heard they have some great medicinal properties.