How Does Your Garden Grow?

After this long, frigid winter, I think most of us are pretty excited about the warmer weather.  I’ve been happy to see early springtime flowers starting to bloom, and daffodil greenery poking up through the ground. I’m feeling eager for our frost free date so I can start my garden for the year. My kids and I have spent the winter planting seeds in jars and watching them grow (did you know that you can grow just about any type of seed in some crumpled up paper towels and a jar? We’ve tried pinto beans, lentils, and apple seeds so far with great success!). I’m looking forward to actually digging in the dirt and watching my crops grow.

In anticipation of my garden, I’ve been thinking a bit about garden design. I have a plot at the Homewood Community Garden, and if you’re lacking the space for a garden of your own, there are lots of great community gardens throughout Pittsburgh- check out this site to find locations and see what’s available. My plot has enough room for me to grow a fair amount of vegetables and flowers, and I enjoy plotting out just where I’m going to plant everything.

After I plan out what to plant this year, the fun part starts!  Buying seeds and starting seedlings is one of my favorite things. I plan on getting lots of my seeds from CLP’s Seed Library, and saving seeds to return at the end of the season. In the meantime, as I wait for the weather to enter full-on spring mode, I plan on checking out lots of books about planting and growing.

-Irene