This time of year, backyard growers around these parts are starting to dream about getting our hands back in the soil. We are pouring over seed catalogues and planning our planting schedules. We’re also cleaning up messes left from last season and setting ourselves up for success in the new one. Around here, in the dead of winter, that means cleaning up the basement.

And so it was that I came across some garden plans Dan (also known to readers of this blog as The Spurgeon General) made for a garden back in 1994 in the liner notes for a record he put out with one of his bands – the cover was a painting of a farm issue license plate…

I knew I loved this guy and I knew he had some experience gardening when we first met, but I cherished reading these notes; a window into his life with plants before I knew him.  All these years later, tomatoes are still his favorite crop and we have a rototiller parked in the shed.

My own crop planning continues to evolve. In addition to planning for rotations and making sure I balance membership commitments and seed orders, I’m trying to get more sophisticated about tracking weather patterns and best planting days for different types of crops according to biodynamic calendars. I spent the last week of winter vacation comparing temperatures from last January and this one. This was my first observation for the new year.

Things haven’t changed much yet, but they’re looking up and I’m hoping to get out to the high tunnel and seed some beds this weekend.