Vegetable garden plans are best mapped out in the fall. It is a great time to look back at what grew well, what tasted great, what you couldn’t get enough of and what showed up in huge quantities.

Each spring, I (try) to keep a list of all that I am planting. When the seed packets come in, I log them in a database, listing important growing information. As the season progresses, I note germination time/rates, greenhouse or garden starting, transplanting information and notes that will help me make decisions about next year’s choices.

Even if you don’t have time to create a database, you can do some simple things that will make it easier for you to have a more productive garden next year. Pick up a pen and paper right now and record the following:

• What did you absolutely LOVE this year?
• What was horrible?
• Where was there too much and where was there too little production?
• Where did you plant what? Remember, some veggies shouldn’t be replanted in the same spot, year after year
• What did better than expected? Note varieties that like your climate, grew larger than you thought, liked having certain companions
• What growing tips have you learned? (ie use tomato cages BEFORE tomato plants are too big!)

Believe me, I would love to believe that I will remember all of these great bits of wisdom for next spring. But I know I won’t. Take an hour to write down the important lessons of this gardening year. This information will be absolutely invaluable for next year.

Check out Vegetable Garden Plans, Part II at Jean Ann’s organic gardening blog, Gardener to Farmer.

In the South, we have two planting seasons. Fall is the time to plant pansies. Actually, we plant pansies, johnny jump-ups and snapdragons. These beauties give the flower beds color throughout the winter. I also plant all the planters with pansies. Each planter gets one color.

No matter where you live, fall is the time for everyone to

• divide perennials
• plant bulbs
• plant new perennials
• plant cold weather vegetables.

A little effort this fall will pay benefits all spring and summer.

Cynthia Tubb is an avid gardener, crafter, and homemaker. Come visit her at Accomplished Woman.

Check out my series on how our Three Sisters garden came to be in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

Today was a big day in our organic Three Sisters garden, the first harvest! As you can see above, I was able to pick some Royal Purple Pod Beans, some Oregon Sugar Pod snow peas, and some Sugar Anne sugar snap peas. Also starting to peek their heads out are my Painted Mountain flour corn. Make sure you look at the leaf axles in the picture to see where they ears are just starting to grow.

Painted Mountain flour corn, just starting to poke their “ears” out.

The Waltham Butternut squash has started blooming and it is gorgeous!

And in another part of our organic garden, the radish mixed seeds I planted are just starting to poke their heads up and get their second set of leaves.

Organic gardening is so simple and so very very rewarding!

Visit Kimbrah’s blog for more organic gardening information.

So let’s get started reclaiming our food! (continued from Part 3)

Be creative and don’t be afraid to experiment. Because I wasn’t quite sure how it would turn out, I only planted four of each bean I decided to grow. Next season, I will definitely be planting more anasazi beans since my boys just love them and we go through them quickly.

Kimbrah loves to garden, cook, and eat with her family in sunny California. To read more about Kimbrah’s adventures with her boys, check out her blog Daughter of Felicitas .

Continued from Part 2.

The next thing to think about is how to save those seeds. There are some great books and websites out there to help you with this. You really do want to use some sort of resource because some fruits need a male and female plant to pollinate, and some seeds, like tomatoes, need to go through a special fermenting process before they will germinate. Here are some good resources-

• International Seed Saving Institute, http://www.seedsave.org/
• Your local Agriculture Extension- Most ag extensions have an advisor that specializes in educating people about home gardening. Make sure you use this free and very helpful resource in your area.
• Your local library or bookstore- The list of good seed saving books is very long. Check out your local library to see what is on hand or peruse an online bookseller to see what interests you and then go find it in your local library or bookstore to take a look through. I have found so many great books this way.
• Online Seed Catalogs- These will often have information about when and how to plant particular seeds. I found out how to plant my anasazi beans by checking out Bountiful Gardens online seed catalog. http://www.bountifulgardens.org/

Anasazi beans grown from organic dried beans in my cupboard.

…..Continued in Part 4

Kimbrah loves to garden, cook, and eat with her family in sunny California. To read more about Kimbrah’s adventures with her boys, check out her blog Daughter of Felicitas.