What's the plan?

They say you've got to have a plan, and for me anyway, a plan starts with a list. I know we haven't even moved in yet, and we won't be planting anything until the spring but if I have a list of what I want to grow I can spend the winter planning how best to lay out the garden.

There are a few perennials already there that I don't need to worry about this year. I will just need to keep an eye on them and see how they do next year. Those would be the fruit and nut trees, and the berry patch. Yes, you've read that right, the property comes complete with an apple, a pear, and a peach tree, as well as two Japanese heart nut trees (a beautiful looking heart shaped kind of walnut you probably saw a picture of in the first post). There is also a large patch of everbearing strawberries and raspberries. Aside from doing a little research to see what pruning may need to be done with the trees in the fall I'm not planning on doing or changing anything about them this year with the exception of adding some blueberries to the berry patch.

However, the veggie garden is another story. While it is already a nice large traditional garden with a good variety of veggies that look to have done very well I'm hoping to expand it and organize it with long rows of wood pallets. It might work, it might not, but I like this idea and have been excited to see that others online have already tried it with what looks to be good success. I'm hoping the pallets can help create a raised bed that warms up earlier than a traditional ground garden extending the growing season. I'm also hoping that they help minimize weeds while organizing the rows of veggies. Lastly I'm hoping that they make for a good sturdy base to attach my tomato cages to so they don't blow over in the wind.
Here's a picture of what I have in mind...

...let me know if you have any good sources of pallets. I'm going to have a lot of other projects that involve these free roadside resources.

So, what am I going to plant in all these pallets? Where's that list I mentioned? After discussing it with the misses we've agreed that we're not going to go whole hog just yet. We're going to have a lot on our plate this first year and we recognize that there's a steep learning curve in front of us. We're going to experiment with small amounts of the following...

Veggies:
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Zucchini
Green Beans
Corn
Broccoli
Poo-sprouts (aka Brussels sprouts - these are obviously for Wifey and Offspring)
Cauliflower
Carrots
Potatoes
Onions
Garlic

There is also a good sized pumpkin patch on the property we will likely replant with pumpkins and squash. But for the most part veggies are going to be our garden focus in the upcoming year. 

On a final note, we had a bit of a sneak preview of what we are in for next year....I hope. I turned a few pounds of fresh organic tomatoes from our local farm share into a few pounds of tomato sauce. They only thing that could make it better is fresh garlic and herbs, but one step at a time right.

Thanks again for stopping in and feel free to leave comments, feedback, and suggestions. Just remember we reserve the right to remove anything distasteful or overly negative.