New Garden Dreaming

I had every intention of popping in to this space on the first and creating a sentimental out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new post to commemorate New Years' Day, but the transfer cable to my camera went mysteriously missing (it is the exact same cable that the hubs' phone uses to charge... coincidence?), which cramped my plans.

Anyho, so now it's the second, I found a cable that will do the job so I can share a few photos, and I've let go of the idea of the perfectly-timed 'looking back' post. Letting go... that may be a better commemoration of the new year than anything else, no?

Around these parts, our New Years' Day was a sunny, warm(er than the last few), beautiful day, and we found ourselves drawn outside for the good majority of it.

For me, Christmas over + beautiful weather = garden planning on the brain. While the kids were all over the place with their new outdoor toys (new shovels and rakes, new handmade walking sticks, new mini-tractor...), I was out with my new toy (a new camera!) scoping out garden sites.

Folks, I think I found one.

It will be a challenge to find a spot on our property that will accommodate all I want to do and provide enough sunlight, as almost all our acreage is woods. However, this little spot might just fit the bill. I'm thinking my chicken coop will tuck up there to the right, close to the trees and in the shade, and then the garden can sprawl out into the sunshine, just a little past the giant boulder pile (all one design, as I am firmly sold on the chicken garden at this point). It's tantalizing, for sure... enough so that I plotted and planned the entire day yesterday, and started this morning surfing the interwebs for seeds.

I've dabbled in the non-GMO, organic seeds in the past, but another resolution (if you will) that I have for this new garden space is that I will not buy GMO seeds, I will not buy from Monsanto, and I will intentionally choose organic, as-local-as-possible seeds best suited for my area. I initially consulted this little gem of a resource for a starting point, and ended up finding nativeseeds.org, a great little non-profit out of Arizona that specializes in open-pollinated, non-GMO heirloom and landrace seeds from the greater Southwest. They're all as native as they will get for us at this point, they're all suited to my area, and- super bonus- most of them are drought resistant! It's a new favorite web site of mine... and this morning, I spent $55 on seeds! BUT the plants that come from these seeds can provide seeds for saving that will be fertile and true to the mother plant, so I consider the investment I made in these little guys totally worth it.

Let the anticipatory trips to the mail box begin!

Oh, and by the way, remember how I mentioned that boulder pile, up in the first 3 photos? Check out this amazing rock we found in the pile:

Sooooooo cool.

Happy new garden dreaming, happy spring spaces planning, and happy New Year!