Tuesday, January 08, 2013

Making Plans For The 2013 Garden Season


I am working on my list of vegetables to plant for this gardening season. One thing I have discovered is that I really like the different varieties of cucumbers. This past year, my lemon cucumbers came up pretty good. So with the Blonde Boothby and the Lemon Cucumbers, we had some new types to add to our salads. Eating salads every day is not boring when you can mix and match various types of vegetables.


Today I discovered a few other varieties. One of them is the Sikkim Cucumber. It looks pretty interesting and I am going to add it to my order so I can try it. I will miss sharing them with my father. Last year I gave him some heirloom cucumber seeds but don't know if he planted them or what. I didn't find any of his seeds anywhere in his house when I cleaned it out. His garden had been trampled but I was able to get a few things out of it. I am thankful he taught me about the value of a garden because now, it is something we rely on. Especially since the food in the stores has gone up so much and most of it is not that safe to eat.

Salads all summer and fall from our garden!

I plan on planting enough cucumbers to make some serious amounts of pickles this year. My father always made them and a couple of years ago, I spent a day with him learning how he and my Mom did it. It is a day I will always treasure in my memory now! A couple weeks later he told me he had more pickles for me and when I went up to pick them up, he had canned 28 more quarts for me. What a surprise! He was ninety years old at the time. Nothing held him back until he had that darn stroke. Looking forward to getting my seeds started, spring is only 70 days away!!

Here my picks of cookbooks for pickling recipes. I wish I could buy them all! This year my goal is to increase my use of pickling and fermenting foods. They are really good for you and it is an easy process once you get the hang of it. Pickling is not just for pickles anymore!









The Pickled Pantry: From Apples to Zucchini, 150 Recipes for Pickles, Relishes, Chutneys & More










Copyright © 2013 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2012  Kathleen G. Lupole

2 comments:

teekaroo said...

I love garden planning! I'm hoping to have some luck this year with cucumbers. They didn't do well last year. It's so fun to research all the different varieties.

Livy said...

Hi, I just stumbled onto your blog.

I want to garden so badly. I have a nice plot and I always make the plans and get started, then I let get totally overwhelmed with the weeding, etc.

Is it better to just do a really small plot, or do you have any other beginner tips?