Garden Dreams

I always wonder what the next year will bring by the time December rolls around again. Some things happen to you and some things happen because of you. Both good and bad of course, but the goal is to have more on the good side of the ledger when all is said and done.

So what do we have in mind for the gardens this year?

• Grapes - I mentioned earlier that I wanted to have our own grape vines. We don't really need to grow them specifically for eating, although we certainly want to do that, too. Last summer, we discovered wild grapes growing just a minute's walk from our back yard, but I love how trained grape vines look and it would be nice to grow a seedless variety or two. I've got plans for 6-8 vines planted in two rows just to the west of Max's Garden and I'm gleaning lots of good information from Ron Lombough 's book, The Grape Grower.
  
  
• Raised Beds - We "inherited" some landscape timber scraps that we plan to use for some small raised beds. I don't yet know where or how or what for, but I've got some dream time before spring in which to come up with a definite plan.
  
  
• South Side of the House - I'm not happy with the landscaping on the south side of the house, so that will undergo a change this year. Right now it's just plain boring and boring has got to go. Again, I'm not certain how I want to change it, just that it needs a change.
  
  
  
• Enlarge the Vegetable Garden - In the past two years, we've found that we don't have enough room for growing the vegetables. In 2006, we even "borrowed" the neighbor's garden plot and shared the crop, although it didn't produce a whole lot. We don't need a lot of extra room, so this shouldn't be a major task.
  
  
• Compost Bins - Now that we're composting, we need an enclosure for it. Bins just never got built last year, so that will be one of the first things to accomplish this spring.

This list will undoubtedly undergo revisions and possibly grow longer over the course of the next few months, but it's a start. And if this is all we accomplish this year, it will be enough. But when I'm working in the gardens, I get inspired and the next thing you know, I'm saying, "Honey, I've got this idea . . . "

This is where Romie just rolls his eyes.