It is that time of year when we start preparing for our spring and summer garden. We have already started some of the dirt work. Sometimes my husband talks about not having a garden, but I can’t imagine that. It is great for us to get fresh vegetables, and I also love seeing beautiful flowers. I love anything that attracts pollinators. I also like sharing the garden with our chickens.
Photo by Faithful Homesteader.
This year we will need to do things a little differently because of now having a dog. We certainly don’t need him digging up the garden or doing his business all over the place. Like last year, we are doing in-ground beds, but we will surround each bed with chicken wire. We plan to make it where the dog can’t get in, but the chickens can. Doing dense planting, our tomatoes bushes always provide nice shade and refuge for the girls in the hot summer.
We will be growing our usual vegetables of tomatoes, zucchini, squash, watermelon, and peppers. We also plan to have beans and corn. I am hoping we grow giant sunflowers again. They are my favorite flower. We will likely have marigolds. I notice they attract a lot of butterflies, and I love that.
We are planning on growing kohlrabi. We grew it several years ago. The chickens loved it, and we liked it. I am hoping for some new vegetables this year. I try to follow a mostly paleo diet and I am preparing to go keto. I would like a great variety of good vegetables to eat. Currently I eat the same thing over and over again.
My husband was looking through the Gurney’s Seed and Nursery Co. catalog and will soon order some seeds. We are trying a different type of cauliflower called Veronica Hybrid. They are said to have good heat tolerance, and we certainly need that in North Texas. We are also going to plant a couple different types of carrots. One is the Purple Haze Hybrid and the other is the Envy Hybrid.
More kale is certainly going in the garden. We actually still have some in the garden. It has survived multiple hard freezes. It is called Beira Seed Kale, and it is heat tolerant as well, surviving our triple digit summer temps. We are going to try some artichoke even though neither of us knows if we will like it. I don’t think I have ever had it.
I always look forward to the garden each year, but we never know if it will be successful or not. Sometimes it is too hot or too wet. We have had losses because of hail. We do always manage to have at least one thing that makes it through no matter what. It is an adventure for sure.
I love that the garden always seems to attract the birds and the bees. I am hoping that the Painted Bunting will make an appearance again this year. That adds a lot of joy to my life.
We will do our best to prepare a successful garden, but we will have to see what the spring and summer weather holds for us. I certainly hope it will not be too hot or too wet. I want the chickens to enjoy the garden, but not too much.