Does anyone else use an Old Farmer’s Almanac? Some people may see this as outdated or even a little hokey, but I have always enjoyed and appreciated them.

My grandparents often consulted the almanac when planting their garden, and in the early days of their marriage, they even turned it into a contest- my grandmother planted her veggies using the “signs,” and my grandfather did not. Hers outgrew his by a long shot.

My other favorite New Years related book comes in the mail every January.

And you can bet when my Burpee catalog comes in, I’m flipping through it and circling things with the enthusiasm of a child flipping through the Toys R Us Christmas catalog.

Which brings me to my next item of business: garden planning. As you know, we operate a small hobby farm/homestead. January is the time of year when we start prepping for the planting season. We start cleaning out our greenhouse and garden beds, flower beds, etc. We order seeds and bulbs. We spread compost and flip the compost pile.

And we plan our garden layout.

Our garden layout won’t look exactly like this, but it is close. For more explanation about the beds, see these graphics:

As we finalize farm and garden plans, I will share more.

Have a wonderful weekend!