I planted my first seeds of the season yesterday. I started my collard seeds and my Swiss chard seeds. I won't bore you with pictures of dirt with nothing growing in it.

Next week, I'll start some peppers.

I found this really helpful website that tells you went to start seeds inside and when to transplant them. It also has a tool that lets you plug in your last and first frost dates and it tells you what you should be starting inside or outside, what you should be hardening off, and what you should be transplanting. According to it, I should start collards and Chinese cabbage (bok choy) inside this week, and I should have already started broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, leeks, head lettuce, parsley, and onion seeds last week. None of those were things I was planning on growing, except maybe broccoli and some head lettuce. The website is here: http://www.chestnut-sw.com/

Last year, I decided to try my hand at gardening. I only planted in containers, but I was quite happy with the results. I enjoyed being able to get greens for the guinea pigs and Maxwell by simply going out to the backyard, and I loved knowing they were treated with zero pesticides and very, very few fertilizers. I also liked having fresh cut flowers in the house throughout the summer and into fall and having pretty flowers on the deck.

This year, I'm going to plan a bit more. Here's my list so far:
Collards (to be started from seed indoors; seeds will be planted next month)
Kale
Swiss Chard (note to self: do not plant under Topsy Turvy Tomato to avoid repeat of last year's tragedy)
Tomatoes (plant earlier in the season than last year)
Various lettuce varieties
Strawberries
Azaleas in the front to replace the bushes
African daisies (more than last year, try to get several different colours)
Violas

I'm also going to see about getting an automatic watering system for the potted plants. Last summer, my older brothers forgot to water the plants while we were on vacation and several of my flowers died.

I might also plant some bell peppers. I really hate bell peppers, but the rest of my family likes them and so do the guinea pigs. They also look pretty, so they'll probably be on my list.

Another thing I might do is a raised bed. It'd be nice to have a bigger yield than I did last year, especially with the greens. Last summer I still had to buy a lot of greens in addition to what I grew. It wasn't as many as I do when I don't have stuff growing, but it was still more than I would have liked to have bought. If I do a raised bed, it won't be very big and it will only be for vegetables and maybe fruits.