Winter Dreaming In The Garden

The smell of newly warmed earth is calling to me, mostly because we have another winter storm supposedly wending it's way across the country toward us and the chill outside has begun to make me long for warmer weather pursuits.

And so?  I've begun to dream of what I'll be planting for this year's vegetable garden.

Last year, I overstuffed my little 8x4 Square Foot garden.

By doing so, it made things really tough to manage by mid-July, because everything had gotten a wee bit overgrown and I couldn't reach toward the center to harvest.

So, this year?  I'm going to try something different.  This year, I've decided to pare down what I plant to those things we really do eat and enjoy, weed out the dross that ends up mostly going to waste or gets given away, and planning the whole thing better so that reaching things in the center isn't such a chore.

I think that will make a big difference.

But trying to choose between the various selections while looking at glossy seed catalogs and dreaming about the sunny days ahead?  Well, that's the fun part, isn't it?
Which veggies do you consider essential for your home garden?  Why?  Let's talk spring planning, shall we?  Because I could use some thoughts of warmth and sunshine today...

(My own photo of last year's garden in the spring.)