Planning, Plotting and Scheduling

 Never one to take the easy way me.  Today has been a laid back one; neither of us have done much.

However, I have been continuing with my scheduling of seeds, when to grow, when to plant, when to harvest and in the process come up with month by month lists.  This year, I hope to build on last year a little.  I got a lot right last year but it fell apart towards the end because of our caravan jaunts.  This year I hope to have my step-daughter on hand to come and give the plants a watering if and when we go away.  So all this needs to be figured into the equation as well.  Plus our garden is not overly big.

This scheduling is taking longer than anticipated but will be a list to check back on, over future years and also give me month by month lists of what I should be sowing, what I should be planting out and what I should be harvesting when.  To start with I am creating what I call muddled up lists.  These are based on a month by month basis and all relevant information is going in.  Like a quick check list as it were.  This will be turned into typed up sheets for sowing, planting and harvesting in anyone particular month.  As I work through each seed packet I am putting a tick on the outside of the packet to indicate that this particular packet has been dealt with and that I do not in the long run end up missing any. Just a couple of photos of the lists earlier on today.  They have been added to considerably since then.

As I am going through the seeds I am coming across one or two surprises, freebies from the magazine which I had forgotten I had.  I am also finding duplicates of certain packets and I am putting these together and then I am going to alphabetically section my seed box(es) so that I can find things quickly and easily.  Think this might be easier in the long run rather than segmenting them up month by month.  Well that is the plan anyway.  I also with time and experience hope to build up my own favourite seeds which I will end up using year in and year out as well as seeds that can be sown and planted all year long.  I have a lot of containers which I use which will also be put into full production.  I still have a lot of cataloguing to do but we are getting there very gradually.  I will in due course also be making sowing entries into the calendar for successional sowing on some crops such as salad leaves and radishes etc. so that I can keep a supply of fresh leaves up through the year.  Salad leaves cost an arm and a leg in the shops so it makes sense to grow these myself as well as my pea shoots.

I am particularly excited about dehydrating leaves of any kind that can be turned into powders to add to cook meals.  I have had excellent results with my small dehydrator and as a result I am looking at making the most of whatever leaves I can to add more goodness to meals at the end of the day. I have been buying reduced lettuce leaves, kale, and spinach leaves to dry down to make green powders. When we were little very rarely did beetroot or carrot tops be used in everyday eating.  Now we have a culture that is using up these goodies I am now looking to extend my choice of seeds and have been looking at seeds I would not normally have looked at.  For me that is waste not want not and will mean I will be harvesting goodness from the garden no matter what.  So much has been learned  but I have oh so much more to learn on this preserving journey of mine (never mind that thus far it has been 40+ years along).  I am hoping predominantly to be able to use the foods if I manage to produce any for everyday eating but also for making lots of goodies to eat during the winter by being stored in the freezer or by making chutneys, relishes, pickles, jams, jellies etc etc. for the pantry shelves.  For me it is always the pantry shelves that I am conscious of filling with goodies to make our lives more comfortable especially during the winter months.

Weatherwise it has been mild and dull here in Peterborough today.  Not quite warm enough for me to get out and about but we are slowly getting there.  As soon as I can get out I will.  I have seeds to plant in the greenhouses which need sorting out as well.  The dawning of spring is giving me lots of hope for a more successful year on the plot.

I also need to get the shed all sorted out so that I can get that new chest freezer.  I need that for all the new produce that will be coming in.  I also want to add more structure to the household with the making of things at certain times from scratch.

Oh well as I keep saying, it is just the depth that varies.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

x