Planning for 2012!

Above, a picture from the 2011 growing season of a cat basking in the summer sun in the Sprout garden.

The days are getting longer and spring is just around the corner. Sprout has begun preparations for the 2012 growing season. We cleared out the garden, which still has abundant kale, due to the hardiness of this crop and an exceptionally mild winter (for Connecticut). We turned over our compost pile and found it nicely decomposed.

At our most recent meeting we ordered seeds for the garden. We also have some seeds saved from the past growing season. We ordered the Snowdown collection from horizon herbs, a collection of crops selected for their ability to withstand the cold. Planted in late summer, the crops will continue to produce through the winter with heavy mulching and protection from a cold frame or hoop house.

Sprout is also beginning the planning and implementation of a relocation of the garden. The new area will provide us with more space, and convenient location near the new sustainability center on campus. More details to come in blog post soon!

Below is the list of crops we will grow in 2012:

Herbs:

Basil

Parsley

Chives

Lemongrass

Thyme

Rosemary – we already have in the garden

Peppermint – we already have in the garden

Cilantro

Sage

Marjoram

Oregano

Fruit vegetables:

Zucchini

Eggplant

Tomatillos

Onions

Ground cherries

Tomatoes (for fresh eating)

Paste tomatoes for tomato sauce

Cucumbers – from saved seeds, also bought a packet

Tomatillos

Five kinds of hot peppers

Delicata squash

Sugar pumpkins

Sugar snap peas

Green beans – from saved seeds

Hard shell gourds - from saved seeds

Green Leafy Vegetables:

Collard greens

Kale

Swiss chard

mixed salad greens

Flowers:

Sunflowers

Nasturtiums

Lavender

Chamomile

Marigolds

Seed Vegetables:

Soup beans – from saved seeds

Pumpkins (the kind grown for the seeds, not the flesh)

Anasazi sweet corn

Root vegetables:

Blue Potatoes

Radishes

Snowdown, a collection of seeds for the fall/winter:

Beet, Touchstone Gold

Broccoli, Green Sprouting

Cabbage, Chirimen Hakusai

Carrots, Scarlet Nantes

Greens, Collard, Champion

Greans, Creasy (Winter Cress)

Kale, Vates

Leeks, Bandit

Lettuce, Winter Density

Peas, Snow (Mammoth Melting)

Radish, Daikon, Miyashige White

Spinach, Winter