Garden Dreaming

The weather in Raleigh, NC has been incredibly wet and cold, which has forced my garden dreaming indoors. When I talk about garden dreaming around this time of year, it’s in reference to the spring and summer vegetable garden. We have a 30′ by 30′ fenced vegetable garden, which also contains rose bushes, flowering perennials and a 300 gallon pond. The pond hosts fish, bullfrogs and a few aquatic and wetland plant species.

The space dedicated to the annual vegetables seems to decline every year. My son has claimed one corner for his lamb’s ear, beebalm, tulips, irises, daffodils and a hellebore. He once had a bamboo teepee for pole beans, but we had to take it down last summer because it finally succumbed to the elements. Strawberries have claimed a bed, and herb bushes have taken up another. One solution to tightening space is to move vegetables that survive hungry deer outside the fence, such as potatoes and squash, and leave the ones that need the protection, such as cabbage and corn, inside. The other solution has been to interplant crops. Because the strawberries produce heavily in June and then putter out, I can plant either okra or corn in the bed between the strawberries and not worry about them causing too much shade later in the summer. The trick is providing enough water and nutrients at the right time.

The most fun part of garden dreaming is going through my seed packets and browsing online seed stores and my local plant nursery for new varieties to try. This morning I stopped by Logan’s, and the seed racks were abundant and diverse. I was warned this would not last long due to so many new gardeners flooding the stores. Sure enough, some of my favorite seed sellers have limited their online sales due to the surge in interest. I’ve taken to searching Ebay (and sellers who offer free or combined shipping) for those varieties I need to replenish or the ones that I can’t find in local stores.

Here’s a list of what I’ve purchased or have my eye on this winter that will be new to me:

• Kuroshinju Edamame (AKA Black Pearl), West Coast Seeds
• Cherry Vanilla Organic Quinoa, West Coast Seeds
• Lovage, West Coast Seeds
• Big Bertha Hybrid Peppers (I have only grown these from plant starts and love this variety), Ebay
• Cubanelle Peppers, Baker’s Creek
• Oxheart Pink Tomatoes, Ebay
• Spaghetti Winter Squash, Ebay
• Gigante Tomatillo, Ebay