This week in a NY garden - Week 2

Week 2 - January 7-13

Weather - 30 degree's blue skys

This week at Irish Gardens it's time to map out the garden plans against last years gardens and what seeds we have on hand.  For me I took this survey that was done of the house in 2009 and added the gardens.

Now you can see all the little gardens that make up Irish Gardens.  You don't have to have a map like this but I like to because it helps me plan things.  Like for instance I know that the sun travels from left to right along the top of this map so all (mostly all) of the gardens in the top half of the map will have 6+ hours of sun every day.  

Next I take each garden (by name-as they have all been named) and focus on them one at a time.

Like this one circled is the Greenhouse garden....so named as it is the greenhouse.  I take each one and make a more to scale diagram of it like this......

Each square on this map is = to 1 square foot.  I mark on the map where the perennial herb crops are and now I know how much space I have left in the greenhouse to plant other crops.  I save these each year so that I can look back and see what worked and what didn't.  

Now that I have the greenhouse garden mapped out I can plan on what I want to grow in there.  

Take lots of pictures of your gardens each year and you'll be able to remember better what worked and what didn't as well as be able to visualize your garden in bloom.  

So this week this is what we will be working on....marking the perennial crops and begin planning the annual ones.  What will you be working on in your garden this week?