Every year since moving into our house, I plant new flowers and vegetables the first weekend in May. In Kansas, this happens to be a pretty safe weekend to plant. So weather permitting, you can picture me squatting on swollen feet digging around in my flower beds.

While I will spend some time adding new annuals, I’ll be working mostly in my vegetable garden. A few years ago, my husband built me a raised bed at the back of our yard, and I look forward to working in it every year. Because I am a bit of a planner, I spend a lot of time developing new strategies for what I will plant. These have been met with varying degrees of success. The first time I had a garden I was so successful that it looked like a crazy jungle. Since then, it’s been a little lackluster. Mostly, I’ve ended up with scorched weeds and a few vegetables.

While it can be a little discouraging, every spring I am hopeful and excited to put together my new “plan.” I’ve started drawing a diagram each time to keep me on track at the nursery. I can get pretty distracted in there. Although I do I try to stick to my plan, I’m not afraid to swap out planned items for vegetables that look exciting.  This is what I’ll bring me with to the nursery this year.

The tomatoes shown here will actually be kept close to the house in planters – safe from marauding squirrels. A friend gave us San Marzano tomatoes plants that they’d started from seed. I am over the moon to have fresh tomatoes and am picturing lots of sauces.

Do you plant  a vegetable garden? If so, what are you putting in it?

Do you have any tips or tricks?