I’m entering spring this year with my garden in a bit of a ‘blank’ state.

There are plantings of early potatoes, shallots, leeks, and strawberries pottering away; as well as a bed permanently dedicated to herbs and perennials.

There’s a bed of winter brassica that’s ready to be torn out. And the vegetables, herbs, and flowers that have self-seeded (or are self-seeding) make it look busier than it really is.

I’m really happy with it – it’s huge progress compared to where I began – but for such a large space it’s not actually growing a heck of a lot at the moment.

I’m planning on changing that this growing season. Right now I have that early-spring optimism of a flourishing summer garden.

Of course, nature may decide otherwise in the meantime. I accept that I am merely an ape on a rock spinning around a ball of fire with no command of what will actually eventuate – but I’m going in with grand plans.

The arch

A new feature in my garden is the arch that goes over one of our paths. I built it for fun a few weeks ago – just because I wanted to.

I used materials that were lying around. Y posts, aluminum cloche hoops, a board from a pallet, chicken wire, and a big pile of zip ties.

But the impulsiveness of building it left me with the question of what to grow over it. There are so many options! Thankfully the arch should last a few years, so this season won’t be my only crack at it.

Recently a friend of mine was telling me she really missed cooking with bitter melon. And it turns out some kind soul gave me a few bitter melon seeds a few years ago. So I’m going to see what I can grow for my friend by sowing them indoors this week.

As a back-up, I have a packet of Sugar Baby watermelon seed I can sow in a few weeks if the bitter melons don’t germinate.

I might slip a watermelon in there anyway if there’s room.

The usual suspects

A few of the beds will be filled with things I’ve grown before. We just haven’t got to the right sowing times yet.

Last year I grew a bed of sunflowers, and this year I plan to repeat it. I’m planning to direct-sow the seed I saved last year in early-mid October. I’ll even try to thin them out this time!

Another bed will be dedicated to peanuts. The seed I saved earlier this year will be direct-sown sometime between late-October and early-November to get the long season they need. Best-laid plans involve actually mounding them this year too.

Our main-crop Desiree potatoes will be planted probably around early-mid December. Our early Rocket potatoes are already in and we should be harvesting them from late spring and throughout summer. But I find the main potato crops do better when things have had a chance to warm up first.

I have a really vague idea of which beds all of these will actually go into in the end; but it’ll ultimately come down to whatever I’m feeling on the day.

The bug-net house

I’m really excited about this one this year. The bug-net house gives me the chance to grow the plants I usually avoid growing because they get attacked by green vegetable bugs and corn earworm.

Last month I sowed paprika and cornos pepper seeds on a heat mat – though I’m yet to see any germination. I’ll buy some seedlings in October if they fail on me.

This week I’ll be sowing some Best Boy Bush tomato seeds indoors, followed by Spacemaster cucumbers in early-October.

Then – all going to plan – in early-November I’ll plant peppers, tomatoes, and cucumber into this space.

At the same time, I’ll direct-sow a small patch of 16-20 Early Marika sweetcorn seeds. I’ll also do that in December and January to hopefully avoid a glut of starchy sweetcorn this year!

Strawberries

I’ve been growing Camerosa strawberries for years. Last year I decided I wanted to add a second variety, and after some research settled on a daylight-neutral variety called Monterey.

However last year – probably hampered by Cyclone Gabrielle and the other heavy rain events we experienced at the time – producers had a bit of trouble getting plants to stores. They were expensive and stocks were limited.

I paused my plans.

So imagine my delight when I found them at a reasonable price at my local Bunnings this year!

Five new Monterey plants have been planted alongside some Camerosa runners in a new bed. I’ll get them mulched and netted from the birds in the next few weeks.

That should do us nicely alongside the berryhouse harvests this summer.

Filling the gaps

There will be gaps in this plan, but I have an aging seed collection that I really need to plant again – or, in some cases, open in the first place.

I’ve already direct-sown some mixed carrot seeds and California red onion. I’ll be adding some silverbeet, and maybe even beans this year too.

I’ve been using more cumin in my cooking lately, and I have some seeds, so I’d like to get that established in the same way dill and cilantro are. I’ll throw down patches of the seed toward the end of October and see what it does.

Our favourite lettuce didn’t appear to seed itself last year, so I’ll scatter some of my backup seed about too.

There are some alyssum, cornflower, and nigella germinating indoors at the moment that I’ll transplant out in whatever gaps I can find after all of that.

And who knows what else I’ll find as I sift through my seed collection. So much of it is aging-out that it’s probably worth just throwing handfuls in patches to see what takes. I guess if all goes well, I’ll be busy with saving seeds in autumn next year!

What will be, will be. But this year I’ve got a magnificent canvas to play with, and grand plans for it. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if nature ultimately co-operates to help me bring them to life.