It’s that time again. I’m starting to figure out what I’m planting this spring and I was glad to have this thread to go back to. I also thought I would update on what happened with my planting plans last year in case someone else is considering planting late, etc. Dave, you were concerned about how late I was planting some of what should have been spring crops and especially if it was too late for peas. I did not end up planting peas at all last year. I went right into cucumbers and string beans and they did very well. Had the best year ever with cucumbers. I did plant lettuces, all my herbs, cabbage, broccoli, bok choy. I think I got lucky with the weather. We harvested Romaine lettuce for a long time before they bolted. I grew ‘Jerricho’ which was known to tolerate heat and it sure did. We harvested Bok Choy for a long time and Kale all season. I tried a new cabbage last year, ‘Gonzales’ which produces individual cabbages and they were a big hit. Each cabbage made a large bowl of cole slaw with no leftover cabbage. Very convenient and they took up about 10 inches of growing space each. The broccoli, did have a difficult time forming a head. It wasn’t until we had a cool spell at some point during the later part of the summer before they did. I had left them in place all season and finally harvested some in August and minimum side shoots into the fall. So, I’m trying to decide whether to grow broccoli this year. To get one head of broccoli from each large plant, doesn’t make sense in my small space if I have to leave them in place all season. I didn’t plant spinach until the fall and then it did nothing. They germinated and grew a few leaves and then just sat there, so I covered them and left them to overwinter and I’m hoping they may regrow this spring. I’m pretty sure the different angle of the sun in the fall is a problem for me and I’m thinking that a Fall crop is not going to work for me at all. It was okay though because I had tomatoes still ripening up to frost and cukes still coming in, squashes still ripening. I've decided that spring crops followed by successions of summer crops are my best bet. Which allows me to cover crop for the spring if I want and do a good job of putting the garden to bed. After thinking and thinking about the Asparagus, we decided we didn’t even want to grow it. lol So, we gave them to our neighbor to grow and that solved that problem. I sometimes have a lot of enthusiasm for trying to grow something over the winter, but this winter has convinced me, that is just not the best fit for me. Especially with the ton of snow we are having this year. And I enjoy the break from the garden in the winter. So, you were correct that plans change from year to year and my plans made last spring are definitely being adjusted. Rodney, I also took your advice and took the chives out of my vegetable beds due to the fact they are perennial. I moved them into a perennial border that skirts the vegetable garden and very happy with that arrangement so far. I also managed to divide them and had a number of them to add to the border. We did manage to plant some garlic last fall too. Since we had so much trouble with the soil in the new beds, which I believe was due to being sifted before delivery, we did a lot of work on the beds in the fall. Compost ingredients worked into the beds. The tomato bed had a cover crop turned in and a heavy layer of mulch. I’m hoping this season will be an improvement. Ajsmama, Our Cilantro did some reseeding but sprouted in the fall, so not so sure that will overwinter. I really enjoyed the Cilantro last year and it was so pretty in the garden. We did manage to do one succession planting of Cilantro and that really worked out and extended our harvest. I was able to leave the first planting in the ground until fall and harvested a good amount of seed. So, that’s the update and I’ll probably be posting this year’s plan with more questions soon. Thank you all again for all the great help!

Tried the aqua globes and had zero luck. They emptied too quickly. However I gave Plantastic a try and had wonderful success. Set up several plants with Plantastics before I left for two and a half week vacation. I came back to all happy healthy plants. For once I didn't have to move all my plants to the bathtub or have one of my friends come and water my plants. The set up was really easy. The product uses some kind of filter paper flow disk gasket that regulates the water so it flows more slowly into the plant. Their website instructs you to also water the plant to give it a boost befoe leaving it unattended while on vacation. See this instruction page: http://store.jobesplantastic.com/instructions.aspx I am hoping to get advice from others who use watering devices like www.jobesplantastic.com and see what they think. So far so good for me.

Perhaps I'll see something special when spring comes... I will keep you all posted. I got home and found a huge package on my doorstep. It looks like they were out of the 1 gallons... and instead sent them both in 2 gallon pots! These are my largest plants by far, I think everything else I own is a foot maybe 2 at the most. Chamaecyparis nootkatensis 'Pendula' - Not the rarest I know, but every time I see one I cant help but stare. ONLY $12 BUCKS! Pinus densiflora 'Golden Ghost' $35

Just hang the light a little higher. Light intensity drops, fast, as the light gets farther away. So raising the light will reduce the light the plants are getting - which is good for plants that like indirect light.