The First Step to Planning Next Year's Garden

The reward for getting through the holidays was to dig into the gardening catalogs that have been steadily arriving since mid December. Now that the tree is down and the decorations are put away, I finally earned the reward and dove into the catalogs today. I only had a short time available to start seeing all the new varieties available for 2010, but I've already got a wish list started.

While I can dream about new varieties and what I'd love to add, the first step to planning a garden whether it's a brand new plot or planning for additions to an existing bed is to evaluate how things went last year. Ideally, this should be started in the fall as you're cleaning up the beds so that things are fresh in your mind. Now is the time to take a look at your notes and evaluate exactly what worked and what didn't. Don't forget to take into account the weather conditions along as part of the performance of your garden and edible plantings.

For example, we had a cold summer, so cold in fact that it was September before we were finally able to enjoy our first tomato. I have to keep that in mind as I decide what tomato varieties to grow next year. The performance had more to do with the weather than the plants that I grew.

Another example, is the beautiful Bright Lights Swiss Chard that I've included a picture of. It made a terrific addition to the landscape and although chard is edible and enjoyed by many people, my family didn't like it. Therefore, it's highly likely that I won't grow it again, unless I have some space left over for an attractive plant that makes a striking addition to the border.

If you're itching to get back to gardening, take a look back now so that when it's time you can spend your time moving forward. In addition to the overall performance and any disease problems ask yourself if you liked the plants, the flavors, the textures and so forth. These are all important characteristics in deciding what to repeat as well as deciding what you want to replace and the features you should look for in a replacement.

Once you have all of this information in hand, you'll be able to create a wish list that will really meet your needs for the coming gardening season and your edible landscape.