Nelson Garden Plan

Our favorite time of year!! Garden planning. 

I love getting the seed catalogs in the mail, looking over our notes and diagrams from last year to see what changes need to be made and doing an inventory on the pantry to determine if we made too many jars or too little (we always make way too many pickles). Then we get to order new seeds (usually from Baker Creek because they have free shipping) and the rest we get from the Free the Seeds event or Columbia Falls library seed library. 

But really, the way I think of gardening isn't as a hobby, but as a keystone habit. Last fall, a group of us gals did a Habits Retreat with the Schole Sisters. They introduced the term "keystone habit," which as James Clear states is a "small choice that leads to a cascade of other actions."

This is a great way to think about gardening! It's completely changed our family culture for the better and here are the "fruits" I see from it: 

1. Real food. Since we have the land, I try to grow as much as we can and as close to annual consumption as we can get. Yes, this means a lot of canning and freezing (we actually have a freezer just dedicated to veggies and veggie products like zucchini bread, etc.). However, cooking from scratch is something I find rewarding and I love that it's better for my kiddos!

2. Mud. My kids LOVE dirt! They literally swim in the potato field mud, really. It's also really fun to go to the thrift stores and let them pick out unique utensils for their 'mud kitchen'. We make many mud stews and pies in the summer, but after reading this article about the health benefits of playing in dirt, I'm so glad they have a space to get dirty!

3. Entrepreneurial skills. The kids have such a blast picking the harvest and setting up a table at the end of the driveway to sell the fruits from their labor. They package them and write the prices on the bags. We're working on counting back change, but it's a good real life math lesson! We don't worry about our neighbors cheating us on money because of poor math skills, they usually give us more than needed as a "cute tax." 

4. Hard work ethic. A garden is hard work and the weeds are never ending, BUT it's so valuable for them (for all of the family) to work toward something together and learn to practice diligence. It's also rewarding to sit down to dinner and see all the ingredients that they picked! They truly understand where their food comes from and it seems to taste a little better when you're the one putting the effort in to cultivate it!

5. Organizational skills. Every February, the kids and I get our journals out and start planning. They become part of the process and all chime in on what new veggies they want to grow. We all get grid paper out and diagram out our ideal garden. They love dreaming, planning, and creating something beautiful. It's fun to see them get excited and receive value for their opinions. They get to contribute on an adult level!

6. Beauty. I find this aspect really thrilling. To create something beautiful with your own hands, being a part of the process as it grows, and seeing it to fruition. There's something inspiring about walking through the garden and seeing all the colors, varieties, food ready to be picked, bees buzzing, and just...LIFE! It's an easy way to weave in God's creation and the beauty He made. 

7. Etc.. Cooking from scratch leads to more healthy eating, canning saves money versus processed equivalents, composting scraps reduces waste and feeds our soil, our kids develop a love for cooking with our own ingredients, and the garden provides for homeschool lessons on botany. 

Alright, now that we have the right heart attitude behind gardening, here's the details on how our garden works:

This year we're trying a couple new things.

I purchased two Greenstalk vertical towers (one for herbs and one for warm season veggies). We have a big sunny deck, so my hope is that the herbs will be much closer to the kitchen and more accessible for cooking with. Also, our garden is in a micro-climate, so really warm veggies like peppers and tomatoes don't do great. I'm hoping that putting them on the deck will yield more fruit and more RED tomatoes!

We're also going to try Brussel sprouts instead of cabbage this year. My cabbage crop always gets decimated by cabbage moths, even with netting and neem oil, so we're switching it up.

The kids LOVE snacking in the garden, so I've created them a "snack aisle" this year. It's the pea row (see picture below), with the mini pepper and mini tomatoes in pots. They can have free reign on that row! They also love wrapping little cucumbers in sorrel leaves; it gives the cuke a little lemon zest! Try it! 

This year we are attempting cut flowers for the first time! Usually I do corn and more beans where the Flower Plot is (see pictures below), but the yield is never great and the corn is always gummy. The kids are also excited to add bouquets of flowers to their egg stand table.

So, that's our garden this year! You'll find pictures below. They are not to scale, I tried, but it's definitely off. Look at the downloadable chart at the bottom for more details on row lengths.

Happy planting!