I drew up a couple diagrams for this year’s gardens.

In planning for a new year, I always move everything so nothing grows in the same location as last last year (crop rotation).

Along with rotation, I want to do a few things different this year. For my home garden:

– I’ve moved the tomatoes to a bed that didn’t have the store bought compost that made them sick last year. Last year, all my tomatoes had spindly growth, curled leaves, and very few tomatoes. I hope the move will help.

– I’ll add some flowers along the front fence. I thought I’d be adding a raised bed there eventually, but not enough room. I think flowers right in the soil will look nice.

– This year, I’d like to have more broccoli, carrots, beets and shell beans. I don’t think I had too much of anything last year. Maybe a few too many eggplants, snow peas and snap beans. I made more space for this year by removing the zinnias patch from the garden.

Again this year, my community plot will grow crops that need less regular care. I was able to tend this plot once a week last year and it worked out well. Changes for my community plot include:

– Growing flowers up the arbor rather than winter squash. Last year, I ended up with too much squash.

– Moving the dill out of the onion beds and into its own bed. The dill self sows and its easy to leave it where it comes up. But I think my onions will do better with more sun.

– I’m growing a lot less sweet potatoes this year. I didn’t get a very good harvest last year. I had lots of very small tubers. I’ll allocate a small space to the sweets for a while and see if I can get them to grow better. Maybe its just a matter of spacing the plants further apart, maybe I need new varieties.