Garden dreams

As we get near the end of winter, this is a great time to plan your garden. Garden catalogs arrive daily and have lots of inspiration. When I was about 5, my pre-school class planted a garden, including spinach. We cared for it, harvested it, cooked it and ate it. Amazingly, I loved it. Only my dad and I ate it at home, but from then on, I was a fan. Dad and I started having a garden every year when I was about 9. We always planted radishes, which were fun to grow, but I never cared for them or turnips or beets. However, I did learn to love all types of summer squash.

Because of this love of gardening, I love the garden catalogs. I vary the annual vegetables each year, but also grow: asparagus, strawberries, blueberries, currants, raspberries, grapes, apples, peaches, cherries, plums, and herbs in my yard. I have harvested the asparagus, strawberries, currants, raspberries, apples, peaches and herbs, while the other fruit has yet to yield anything other than beauty. We had a bumper crop of chard and squash last summer. My husband has decided he doesn't care for chard, so I probably won't plant that again, but I'm dreaming of what will go in come May.

If you start seeds now, you will have tomato plants, eggplant, peppers, etc for transplanting to the garden at the right time in the snowbelt regions of the US. I've done that some years, and it is very fun to do with your kids.

Don't make everything utilitarian. We need flowers too as food for the soul. I grow old fashioned rugosa roses, as they make nice rose hips for tea and the flowers are edible and taste nice. I also grow carnations and lilacs as I love the flowers. Hyacinths have the most amazing fragrance, and I try to buy some in bloom each year. I then plant them and they return again and again.

What are your garden dreams?