I know, I know. Winter is barely here and I am already thinking about my garden. I am not crazy. I just need something to get me through the winter!

Actually my 2012 Gardening Goals have a purpose. I am trying to plan to be more self-sufficient and raise my own food. Therefore, I need goals and I need to have a plan. This is not an easy thing to do. I need to decide what I am trying to accomplish and what I want to store and can. This coming gardening season is going to be concentrated more on root vegetables and easy to can produce. I just don’t have the time in the summer to be canning complicated goods although I really want to!

Without further ado, this is my 2012 Gardening Goals:

1. Plant three rows of potatoes this year instead of two rows. Two was not enough. I am not sure three will be either, but I need to expand slowly.

2. Plant 6-8 hills of sweet potatoes. This will be a new crop for us this year.

3. Try growing peas and pole beans along side the barn this year to free up space in the garden. This will mean I need to (A) put a long trellis up or (B) invest in some cattle fence and posts for the peas and beans to grow up.

4. Successfully grow onions that are bigger than a shooter marble.

5. Successfully grow and nuture tomatoes.

6. Cut the raspberry canes ASAP this spring and replant the raspberries so they look a little less wild.

7. Cut down and kill the tree growing in my rhubarb.

8. Start composting.

9. Plant blueberries.

10. Implement a very effective mulching and/or natural weed prevention program.

11. Plant kidney beans to dry and to can.

12. Plant pinto beans to make my own chili beans and to dry.

13. Make weeding a twice a week habit.

14. Get a whole lot more serious about producing our own food and preserving it.

15. Grow parsnips.

16. Grow carrots.

17. Use more container gardening for herbs, squash plants, and peppers.

18. Finish reading Gardening When It Counts by Steve Solomon.

19. Add compost to my garden this year.

20. Possibly move strawberries to a raised bed by the garden. The raised bed would need to be built first.

21. Attempt to grow more heirloom varieties so I can start saving seeds. Question though: Are Yukon Gold Potatoes heirloom? I really like them.

22. Buy my own rear-tined tiller.

23. Enlarge my garden by five feet to the east and to the south.

24. Install a rainwater collection system on barn to get a closer water source to the garden.

25. Buy a decent water sprinkler for the garden.

Some of these goals are pretty lofty, but most are very doable. I can’t wait for Spring to arrive!

Thanks for reading! Have a great day!

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