This past winter, the weather has been absolutely freaky for Houston, cold and nasty, even snowy. Consequently, I have not felt the need to go outside, nor even thought about gardening.

But the weather is changing.

I can feel the Spring coming around the corner. I’m tired of buying bland fruits and veggies from the store. I want to taste something fresh picked from my own garden. I have dreams of gardens, lush with all the bounty of a zone 9 garden.

My plans so far:

• Establish a large (4 mound) Three Sisters garden in the side yard, which currently has nothing but St. Augustine and weeds. This will require several Sunday newspapers, at least 2 cubic yards of good soil, and something to make paths in between the mounds. I plan on not only growing corn, beans, and squash, but also sunflowers, garlic, and onions along the outside (since onions and beans don’t do well next to each other). I have until March to get the bed ready.

• Grow as many tomatoes as possible, wherever I have space that I didn’t grow them last year! I want tomatoes, I want bunches of them. I want to be able to make pasta sauce from fresh tomatoes this year, enough to stash in the freezer for the winter.

• Have a constant stream of lettuce and carrots. I plan on starting a small box of lettuce indoors for baby lettuce, but I also need to plant 2 or 3 squares worth of lettuce and carrots outside every month. And that still won’t keep up with our demand! :)

• Try melons again.

• Make the little front yard bed that has been empty a pepper and basil plot. That should keep us in pesto all summer, and keep my green pepper loving son happy. :)

• Get worm box started after the roommates move and get all of their stuff out of my garage. Yay, worm poo!