The Soybean, sowing the seedsIt’s time for another round of Gardening With the Soybean.  She’s just returned from Mexico (sans-Swine flu… we hope), and is in the planning stages for her 2009 Victory Garden.  “Victory Garden” has such a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?  Note: thesoybean is still referring to her garden as a “vegetable garden”, but in time (and with WWII posters’ help), I’m sure we can convert her.  With taglines like “Every garden a munition plant” who could resist! ;)
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It was 80° in Portland while I was on vacation in Mexico! Guess I should have stuck it out a little longer. :) Anyway, the hot weather coaxed my favorite red and black tulips to bloom and get promptly scorched. …there’s always next year.

Vegetable Garden Planning
Last year I had one 4×4′ raised bed vegetable garden. It was my first attempt at gardening and I thought I if I was successful with one box I could graduate to two or three boxes this summer. Yeah! I’m currently trying to figure out how to fit everything I want to grow into three 4×4′ boxes. I overcrowded things last year and it got pretty messy toward the end of the season.

gardenplanThe image above is my initial garden sketch for this year. My “must haves” are tomatoes, peppers, basil, cilantro, lettuce and peas. I’m excited to try out cucumber, green onions and basil this year.

A few self-imposed guidelines for narrowing down planting choices:

  • Veggies I buy often.
  • Veggies that are expensive.
  • Veggies that have a short fridge-life and/or are best picked fresh.
  • Plants that are easy to grow.
  • Plants with a small footprint.

What’s on your “must have” garden list this year?

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