As you know, I do a lot of things for therapeutic reasons, not the least of which is gardening. I am a nerd, though, and need a plan. A nerd who begs for structure, then cries when she gets it. Every year in February, I go out too early and dig and scratch around in my garden, cause I miss my therapy couch. After about five minutes… haul butt, back to the house cause it’s still darn cold. Here in my wheat field, sitting by a fire to plan a garden makes more sense than standing out there and freezing.

By the fire, I get out my grid paper, pencil, seed catalogs, gardening books and coffee and dream about what I plan to grow and can. Barney says I store up food just like a squirrel. Just one of many things I do around here, to preserve sanity and save money. But, I don’t see any squirrels asking for a bailout. So thanks, Barney, I’ll take it as a compliment, and I think you’ve grown a foot.

My garden is 15 foot by 27 foot give or take, that’s small for these parts. Small and manageable is a good thing when the weeds start taking over. This is suppose to fun, right? Keep in mind even if you don’t have a lot of space, you can still garden. Just think about growing up instead of out, by using trellis or cages for anything that climbs: pole beans, tomatoes, cucumbers etc…or containers work well too, if all you have is a balcony. 

I use grid paper to plan my garden, and start by drawing a rectangle. In reality, my garden isn’t square. Every year I try to square it up and every year it gets a foot bigger in every direction and another bubble off of plumb. That’s probably why I feel at home here. 

After I draw something that resembles my space, I make a list of what I want to grow. Then start moving things around according who likes to sit by who and so on (just like preschool). The fifty-cent word for this is, companion gardening, meaning some things just grow better by others. [Beans and peas, can't sit by garlic or onions, carrots don't like dill, cantaloupe doesn't like potatoes, cucumbers don't like potatoes either, and tomatoes doesn't do well with potatoes (even though they are both in the deadly nightshade family)...who knew?] WHY CAN’T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG? As you can see…This may well drive you crazy. So I do this, until I ran out of space, time, or patience.

With my plan established, I dash to the computer and order all my needs and seeds from Gurney’s. Feel free to get yours from a friend, Wal-mart or where ever. Gurneys is just my favorite place to get guaranteed seeds and plants. If you order early before there $25 off offer expires, you can get $50 worth of stuff for $25. The Gurney’s descriptions will help you choose what will work best for your zone and your soil. Another thing I love about them.

After I place my order, I run out to the mail box to see if they’re here yet. Then do a load of laundry and run out to see if the mail man brought them yet. Then paint my toenails and then see if  Ben already got the mail. Then text W, to see if he got the mail…

Funny, the same place that gives me peace of mind, is what makes me lose it too.

I’ve gotta go check the mail…

OCDly Yours,

Sis