So I’m planning out my garden this year based on what I want to be cooking in August-November. Maybe, depending on how much produce I can (as in preserve)I might be planning meals into January or February! Every year I am disappointed in myself for how my garden comes out. Here are my phases/steps of my annual garden disappointment.

I was hungry when I went seed shopping so I bought a whole bunch of ridiculous vegetables that I don’t have room for and probably won’t grow correctly. Setting myself up for disappointment, step 1.

I planted two plum trees which will require *gasp* pruning, feeding and harvesting. Will I make the time to treat disease, fungi, insects?? No. Disappointment, step 2.

One of my crops is zucchini with the idea that I love the blossoms battered and fried. I Cannot POSSIBLY eat as many as I will be producing. Therefore I will end up with a ridiculously large zucchini plant that is producing 300lbs of zucchini a week and my friends will hate me because I will be dropping of zucchini as large as my 2 year old son. Literally. Disappointment, step 3.

I know that my ability to weed the garden will be inhibited by: child, dog, job, biking, gym, friends, drinking, cooking, writing blog, etc. Overgrown, and now a daunting task. Major disappointment, nail-in-the-coffin, done with the garden.

I guess what I need to learn here is that the IDEA of the garden is fun. The first crop of everything is fun. One round of making preserves is fun. After that you get sick of almost all of it, tomatoes excepted. You can only eat so much okra, zucchini, carrots, beans, squash, etc. However, I will enjoy the fresh herbs. We will use those nightly.

So I need to regulate myself to the daily maintenance and read up on how many ways I can make zucchini not taste like zucchini after the 30th time eating it.

Regardless, I am pumped about the garden this year.