{inspire} we will garden

It's a roundup -- some photos to inspire me and you to get the soil ready and the seeds started for a delicious summer harvest in 2013. I got the Burpee seed catalog in the mail right before the new year and slobbered all over it, especially the tomato pictures. Cherry and grape tomatoes are my favorite. 

Those little yellow ones? Yeah, those too. 

amazing tomato goodness from you grow girl // how to harvest pea shoots from diggin food // 

starting seeds indoors from outlaw garden // pretty beets from real time farms // how to grow sweet potatoes from outlaw garden

We've had garden fails these past few years -- tomato diseases, wretched slugs, under and over watering, and forgetting to harvest {what, we have a garden?}. This year? I'm going to plan ahead. I'm going to mark tasks on my calendar. We're going to spend more time in the backyard {sandbox, right honey?}. I'm going to limit myself to seven things to grow -- so I can focus more time and attention on them and hopefully meet with more success.

And so -- the garden crops proposed for 2013 are as follows:
 -- tomatoes
 -- strawberries
 -- raspberries
 -- blackberries
 -- butternut squash
 -- sweet potatoes
 -- cilantro

We already have the raspberry and blackberry canes -- they are doing well. My husband trains and prunes and takes very good care of them.

Strawberries need a little help. I think I'll grow them in cinder blocks and use something to keep the pill bugs and slugs off. Still looking for answers here.

Tomatoes will be my primary focus, starting seeds indoors and making sure the weather is nice and hot before I put them outside. I've seen two liter pop bottles used as mini green houses to keep seedlings warm. And somewhere I read about laying banana peels under the roots -- that helps make them sweeter? Worth a try!

Butternut squash is something we use a lot of in the fall. Well, really all year round if I can get it! I want to learn how to grow it myself.

And sweet potatoes -- another favorite, but no idea how to successfully grow. Fortunately, Outlaw Garden has some seriously helpful instructions.

Cilantro. I just need to get out and harvest it more often. And then plant more.

We're going to try to fix our soil by adding compost and worms and then using the mulch method to keep the moisture in the soil and eliminate weeds.

And I know I said just seven crops, but can I add peas and beets too?? I just love a salad with pea shoots in it, so yum.