This may seem like an unusual post but I have had this same conversation with several people.  “We love the idea of getting produce from you, BUT I want to have my own garden as well.  Does it make sense to have both?”

Our answer is: YES!  Unless you have a serious addiction to plants like Bonnie and I, you probably won’t have the diversity available in your home garden that we will have available for you from ours.

So, what do we recommend you grow in your garden to compliment your CSA share?

• Herbs* – beautiful plants and make your garden smell wonderful, consider some perennial herbs that add interest to the landscape year round
  
• Strawberry patch – the ones from a home garden are 10 times more juicy and sweet than the grocery store berries, delicious and a small patch will provide enough berries for shortcakes, smoothies and jam
  
• Cucumbers* – nothing is better than a fresh picked cucumber for adding to a salad, stir-fry or blending into a favorite drink, a favorite for taking to summer BBQs
  
• Cherry tomatoes* – a quick snack for young and old – easily added to almost any recipe and the kids love these sweet treats
  
• Cut flowers – instead of vegetables, fill your garden with blooms that can be picked to brighten your home – some to consider: dahlias, zinnias, sunflowers, daisies and asters
  
• For the kiddos* – pumpkins, sweet corn, beans and peas are always easily started and fun for them to watch grow and ripen
  

         *These items will be available in your CSA share.

For the canners – While we anticipate having some additional produce available for canning, our production is designed only for filling the CSA shares.  For the serious canner, we would recommend planting at least a portion of your canning produce in your own garden.  I will be planting pickling cucumbers, tomatoes, the fixings for salsa and beans in my personal garden for my canning (YES, in addition to the CSA garden I am crazy enough to have a personal garden!!!).

We are always available to answer any garden questions that you have about your own garden.  If we don’t know the answer – we love to research and learn more about plants.

~ K

Many have asked about the Seasonal Plan...

We received our first seed catalogs in November.  To keep us on track and build a firm foundation for The Country Gardens, we sadly put the catalogs away and focused on other less exciting aspects of starting a garden business.

No more!  The catalogs are out and we are dreaming off all the wonderful options we can bring to you.  The hybrids, the heirlooms, the herbs...so many choices and so little garden space!  

We are looking at the wrinkled pages of old garden calendars to remember the best varieties, comparing harvest dates, balancing diversity with old standbys, determining where we can take a risk and where we need to be cautious.  To some you plant potatoes, carrots, beans, tomatoes and corn.  We are looking for the very best potato, carrot, bean and corn variety.  And the tomatoes...we had over a dozen different varieties in our gardens last year!

We would love to hear if any of you has a favorite variety that does outstanding in Idaho!  Maybe we have already grown it or maybe we should add it to the ever growing list....