There are four inches of snow blanketing my front patch of ground. right now. It’s piled on my stacking tower, making it look like a haphazardly delivered wedding cake. But strangely I am not able to enjoy it like usual. I am impatient for March and the first signs of Spring.

Last year I had a lot of plans for my little lot, but there were so many other things to work on that I could only put in a few things (the pot tower and the tomatoes). Now my family room is (mostly) done, and since I’m still deliberating over my bedroom plans, my garden gets my full attention. I have given myself a budget and carefully tried to map out my final goal. Of course, I have way more plans than can reasonably be attempted by a novice in one year, so I’m focusing on two things: blueberry bushes and herbs. I want a beautiful garden, but usefulness must be my first thought, and pleasure given my second. These two projects are, I think, the ones whose results will be most easily incorporated into my life (I noticed it was hard for me to get used to harvesting tomatoes,  hopefully herbs will come more naturally). Plus, they serve as stepping stones to my future, less practical, projects.

The jobs I’ve picked wil require two raised beds. One will go up against my house and end about a foot away from the already existing border of the front bed. This is where my blueberries will go. There red foliage in the autumn will, I think, complement the Japanese maple that’s planted in front of the window. In stage two I will add a level at the back of the bed for black pearls – a gorgeous, pepper plant which the Geekette and I saw at the gardens ages ago. We also saw hellebores, with which I am completely smitten. Those will go in front of the bed, and possibly snow drops, or some other early flowering flowers. This area tends to look pretty sad in the spring until the maple tree starts getting bed head.

The second bed will be on the other side of my door, stretching from my house to the sidewalk. The majority of my herbs will go in front, and I plan on making their box higher for easier harvesting (and to keep out dogs – we have a silk terrier living right next door who is very curious). Herbs that need shade can go in the lower middle section, where I’ll eventually be putting the more “ornamental” plants.

So that’s my plan for this year. I’ve already ordered my two blueberries (I wanted three, but in deference to their stated spacing preferences I’m starting with two), and am only waiting for the snow to melt before measuring my beds for a third time and buying wood. My blueberries will arrive the end of February and the beds need to be ready by then. Herbs will be started indoors in March, and transplanted mid-April (if the weather ever returns to normal, that is). But for now, in January, all I can do is dream.