How We Plan the 2023 Garden

This is the time of year that we start planning our garden for the next growing season. Why? Well…the garden seed catalogs have arrived to entice us with beautiful photos of garden plants and produce, of course! It’s called “marketing!”

We’re sitting here while we watch the snow/drizzle/rain/sleet outside our windows and the mail arrives with catalogs like this:

We have gardened long enough to be mindful that not every plant in the catalog will grow successfully in our backyard. We also have tried many vegetables that did well…but we’d rather not eat a lot of them. As long as there are great Farmer’s Markets nearby, many of our vegetables can be purchased from accomplished growers.

So, each year after we get the catalogs, I first check my shelves for the things I grew and preserved last year. I know we ate our share of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and green beans. Lettuce and radishes were the base of many salads. Then, I preserved tomatoes as pizza sauce, cucumbers as pickle relish and beans as 4-bean salad.

If you’ve followed along during the year, you’ve seen my posts about some of those crops. You know that we didn’t grow everything we needed but we grew the vegetables that did well for us and then filled in with vegetables from the Farmer’s Market.

Lettuce and Radishes

We grew lettuce and radishes in a raised planter. They did beautifully and I had 5-6 plantings throughout the summer. We’ll make sure we order the seed that did so well! Watch for our Garden Updates throughout the summer.

Pizza Sauce

We love our Super Sauce tomatoes from Burpee. Bert starts them in the shop under grow lights around the end of March. We plant about 10-12 plants in the garden and end up giving away the extra plants to neighbors. They do well for us and make great sauce. You can read about how I make pizza sauce at: https://marykisner.com/time-to-make-pizza-sauce/

Four-Bean Salad

This pickled salad has our green and yellow beans, kidney beans and chickpeas. I can wait until I have picked enough green and yellow beans and then add canned kidney beans and chickpeas. Delicious all winter long! You can read about canning this salad at: https://marykisner.com/canning-four-bean-salad/

Sweet Pickle Relish

This last year our cucumbers did not produce well. I had enough to eat but not enough to make the relish. This is where the Farmer’s Markets come to the rescue. I was able to pick up a whole box of cucumbers for less than $20 at the end of the summer. You can read about making the sweet pickle relish at https://marykisner.com/canning-sweet-pickle-relish/

Applesauce

I love to have small jars of applesauce in my cupboard. I can regulate the amount of sugar added (usually not at all) and it’s just the right size for the two of us. Since we do not have apple trees, we head to Way Fruit Farm on the other side of town. I try to make applesauce in the early summer. Remember, the apples we buy here in PA in June were grown last summer. Then they were stored in a climate-controlled setting and by June they are much easier to peel. I think last year I purchased 3/4 bushel of apples. You can read about canning applesauce at: https://marykisner.com/a-fond-memory-while-canning-applesasuce/

Fresh Carrots

We like our carrots fresh. Since we don’t have a root cellar that would control temperature and moisture for storage, we’ve discovered that we can leave carrots in the ground until late December. Then we clean them up and store them in the refrigerator. That way, we can have fresh carrots most of the year. You can read about our carrot crop at: https://marykisner.com/carrots-the-last-of-the-2022-garden/

Dehydrated Green Beans and Corn

Throughout the summer I dehydrate small batches of vegetables like green beans and corn. I use them in vegetable soup all year. Snapped beans need to be blanched and chilled and then spread out on the dehydrating trays. It’s amazing how many fit in a jar when they are dehydrated!

Corn is available at the Farmer’s Market around the middle of August. I will buy 1-2 dozen ears, cook it for eating and whatever we don’t eat I’ll cut it off the cob and put it in the dehydrator. After 3-4 times, I have several jars of dried corn ready to throw into vegetable soup.

I’ll try to remember to post about dehydrating vegetables this year!

Chicken Stock

The last thing I want to remember for this summer is to can chicken stock. I use a lot of it and last year I made stock and froze it. Big mistake! It takes up so much room in the freezer. If I wait to make it when all the canning equipment is easily, I think it will be much more practical. I could even make several pots over several days. You can read about making chicken stock at: https://marykisner.com/making-chicken-stock/

Garden Plan for 2023

Given what grows well here and what we like to eat…NOW we can look over the 2023 Burpee Catalog, see what seeds we ordered last year and order seeds for the coming growing season.

We decided to NOT plant any shell beans or cucumbers, but we may add potatoes and Delicata squash in the spring.

Finally, we’ve made decisions about this year’s garden! Seeds have been ordered! A great New Year’s Day activity!! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.