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New Year’s resolutions for the gardener

Garden Chat
Hydrangea
Quick Fire Hydrangea was new to the garden last year.

 I have just as much trouble as the next person when it comes to making resolutions. Resolutions are usually an attempt at self improvement: lose weight, get fit, quit a bad habit, get a new job, write the great Canadian novel, etc. I’ve discovered that most times, my failed resolutions have been too ambitious or too out of character – success was just not in the cards. So my new approach is to make a few modest, achievable personal goals. They can be new or they can be upwardly incremental adjustments to successes you’ve already achieved.

The following are my New Year’s resolutions for 2015.

1. Plan the vegetable garden before buying seeds. Too often I get carried away – three corn varieties, three carrot, three dry bean and one green bean. And then I open the next seed catalogue and I want another corn variety, now some basil, squash, cucumbers, Swiss chard (Bright Lights) and don’t forget two beet varieties – one from fresh eating, the other for pickling. With all the seed I typically purchase, you’d think I had an acre to fill and a family of 10 to feed; I have neither. I know how many rows I have room for and I’ll need to limit myself this year.

2. Use all the produce or give away excess. See above for planning. But that doesn’t always solve the problem. Some vegetables, like corn, come ripe all at once. This year, I’ll drop some of the excess off at the neighbours’ (as a thank you for all they do for us).

3. Keep on top of weeding and other maintenance. This one sounds reasonable but too easily put off in lieu of something more fun. This year, I’ll try to schedule it for the same day each week, weather permitting.

4. Don’t leave everything to the weekend. See 3 above. The weekend is usually the time for family, travelling, camping and barbecues. Spread the gardening out over the week to reduce the stress and make gardening fun again.

5. Read one gardening book. This is a recycled resolution. Last year, I read Lyndon Penner’s The Short Season Yard. The year before, Sara Williams’ updated and revised Creating the Prairie Xeriscape and before that, Donna Balzer and Steven Biggs’ No Guff Vegetable Gardening. I focus on Prairie writers.

6. Start a garden blog. You’d think with all the writing I do, this would be no problem. But between my paid work and this column, I have little energy, time and creativity left. My plan this year is to start small and just write about my gardening activities as they happen. It’ll just be for me and if others find it and find it useful, that’ll be a bonus.

7. Take more pictures. I now have a decent camera. I just have to take it with me everywhere and keep snapping. It should help with this column and my theoretical blog.

8. Try new plants. There’s bound to be a few winter casualties that need replacement, new cultivars for the vegetable garden, new annuals to try in your containers. Last year, I planted Quick Fire hydrangea in my yard; this year, I plan on growing a yellow or a purple carrot variety (probably both).

9. Get a green cart from the city for yard waste. I don’t have room for a compost bin, so I’m going to arrange for a green cart to pick up my lawn clippings, leaves and small branches. Kitchen scraps are not accepted (http://saskatoonenvirostore.ca/leaves-and-grass-bin; leavesandgrass@saskatoon.ca; 306-975-2487)

Relax: take time to enjoy the fruits of my labour. A mojito (with garden-fresh mint, of course) on the back deck sounds right.