Starting the Gardening Year

I went to my community garden plot this morning - it's about 12' x 24' - and did a little preparation for the year. My chives are making new shoots, some over-wintered leeks are greening up and the garlic is also sprouting. I do almost no tilling - just dump several inches of compost on top of the beds each fall and spring and let the earthworms do the tilling for me - so there were only a few weeds to remove. I need to order some more weed barrier to lay down on the pathways.

I've decided not to grow tomatoes, eggplants, peppers or potatoes in my plot this year - we had a bad attack of late blight everywhere in our area last year and the soil is undoubtedly contaminated. I think I'll get some of these growing bags from Gardener's Supply and grow tomatoes, eggplants and peppers on my back patio instead. I'm going to skip the potatoes this year. I still have some plant and seed ordering to do - I'm mostly going to use seeds from last year and just see how they do. One advantage of moving some of the plants to my house is that there's more room for beans - I'd like to grow some additional varieties this year and they take a lot of space. I'm also planning to plant some lettuce, arugula and radish seeds soon, as it seems spring is finally on the way!