My winter garden

We have started getting seed catalogs in the mail already. Well really for a few weeks now. We are heading toward spring now so I am dreaming about what to plant. I am aiming toward most if not all open pollinated or heirloom varieties this year so I can save my own seed. Tomatoes are the big thing here. I have grown several different varieties of heirloom tomatoes in the past. But when I was growing up we always raised the Rutgers. They are a good all purpose tomato for juice and for canning. And they grow exceptionally well on our farm so I think that is what I am going back to this year. I will also grow some Amish Paste tomatoes for drying as well. We have the space to grow so much more than we have been in past. We have always bought pinto beans and other dried beans but I can grow them here so I am thinking I will plant a few varieties to dry as well. Ah dreams of summer and gardening. We are planning on getting fruit trees this spring too to get the orchard started. We got the area prepped last summer with grass sown. So it is ready for trees.
Tomorrow I am planning on sending someone to the lumber store to get shelving material to build more shelves in my root cellar. I filled all the other shelves that we had built and its getting kinda cluttered in there. Maybe we can get that done if its not too too cold outside. Just hope this time the weather man is wrong and its warmer than he said it would be.
Very soon I want to get my summer kitchen built too. I think we can maybe work on it on nicer days and get it done in time for spring. I read a really good idea today on the forum that I frequent for a temporary cold frame/ greenhouse for starting plants in early spring. Use an "A" shaped frame from a swing set and cover it over with clear plastic and anchor the plastic to the ground on 3 sides leaving one end so it can be easily opened to access the plants inside. This is very similar to what we did last spring only on a taller scale. And I would have more room to start more stuff. Yippee!!!!!!! But I always grow my best gardens in the middle of the winter in front of the fire. It never hurts to dream big now does it? Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella