Garden Recap and Future Planning
I've had a sheet of paper on my desk for several days - lets be honest, weeks - that notes all the garden preservation of the year. It's a count of quarts and pints for all frozen, dehydrated and canned food.
Beyond the sheer joy of seeing the culmination of a year's work, I thought it would be interesting to also calculate an approximate amount of money this food equaled. Simply put, "what didn't I have to purchase from the grocery store."
Factoring the amount of food put up, plus 25-50% calculated for eating food fresh, I calculated between $1200-$1400 the garden yielded this year. Not bad, I'd say!
Seeing this number excites me even more for the future. This was a trialing year - starting a new garden, late frost killing many plants, living an hour away, and not being able to plant vegetables that needed more regular harvesting. So, I'm giddy with the possibilities that this new gardening year can bring.
As I'm riding the waves of optimism, I've recently completed my garden plan for the year as well. With every year of gardening, one learns better approaches for the future, and this year is no exception for me.
First, I further separated vegetable varieties.
Last year, I had six different tomato varieties growing in the same box. I had pumpkins, squash and watermelons growing alongside one another. Needless to say, as fruits started ripening, I had no idea what I was actually harvesting.
Along first point,
I'm planting companion plants closer together.
In hindsight, the previous year was sort of a mixture of standard row planting and companion planting. I had companion plants in raised beds near each other, but not actually planted close to one another.
Integrating more pollinator plants and herbs.
I've had some hesitation about this as some of these herbs can be quite aggressive, and I usually spend my time removing aggressive garden escapes. Nevertheless, I can't bring myself to keep buying chamomile tea when I know how easily I can grow it. So, I'm going to try to be as meticulous as possible and plant these species in pots, while clearing areas thoroughly around them to prevent their escape into our natural surroundings.
As an additional note on this point, I'm going to experiment with planting more native plants for the sole purpose of harvesting. Inspired by Alan Bergo’s, “The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora,”, I thought it would be a fun experiment to have plots of native plants, so I know where I can go to collect some milkweed shoots, or mountain mint leaves.
Finally, expansion!
I'll lastly note that I have cardboard smothering some additional areas this year to get me closer to having a food forest. Inevitably, this means that those garden beds will be "new" again, which comes with its difficulties (additional weeding, trying to put life into the soil). Nevertheless, it all feels like a dream coming to life.
As with all plans, it's important to acknowledge that they are just that, plans. Happy planning all, and hold self-forgiveness this upcoming year for the things that didn't go accordingly. There's always next year.