Tomato Day Dreams

I see everyone posting about their plans for their gardens. Their seed catalogues, their winterized garden plots, and what they're planning to plant next spring. And then from our southern hemisphere friends, I see posts like this one from Rhonda Jean at Down to Earth, and I am inspired. So I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon, and talk about my plans for spring, however absurd and grandiose they may be.

Now I am not only urban, but urban-I-have-no-yard-of-my-own-the-only-place-to-put-containers-where-they'd-get-any-sun-is-in-the-landscaping-by-my-front-door. So my garden is going to be very limited, and I need to be picky about what I want to plant. I will do most of my preserving from foods I buy bulk at the farm (peaches/apples) and the farmers market. But after last summers dismal failure, I am determined to raise a few successful plants and eat something that I grew myself.

Pairing down to just a few containers is going to be difficult, as I have no lack of dreams and ideas. When my husband graduates (and he will eventually, you can't be a student forever) and we buy a home, I have a huge garden all laid out in my mind with all sorts of fun things in it. I'd love to have a garden that produced enough to preserve to last all winter. I have plans for the usual suspects: potatoes, onions, garlic, tomatoes, kale, spinach, romaine, peas, carrots, celery, zucchini, pumpkins, sweetcorn, cucumbers, cantaloupe. I also dream about some fun unusual things after reading about them on various blogs. Farm Mom from Children in the Corn posted about these beautiful gourd bowls, and I've been looking at different gourds for drying. I also read about growing your own luffas over at the GroovyGreen. Can you tell I'm envisioning Christmas gifts of homemade soap and luffas packaged in gourd bowls? I also want apple trees: Gold Rush and maybe Jonathan, peach and pecan trees, and definitely strawberries. And would an herb garden too be asking too much? Rosemary, thyme, sage, basil, oregano, lavender, I could go on.

Well, this year I think I'm going to try two containers of tomatoes (Roma or Amish Paste tomatoes, I want to make sauce), two containers of sugar snap peas, and maybe a mixed pot of herbs. And after reading over at the Crunchy Chicken about growing potatoes in containers, I may have to try that as well. I don't think I'll start my own tomatoes or herbs, I'll probably pick up starts from the farmers market. I have to start my own peas, so we'll see how that goes, and lets just say the potatoes will be an adventure.