I find that the winter can be rough in interest. In the late summer we plant sprouting broccoli and a mixed cover crop for green manure that is turned under in the late winter.
We leave out our artfully made bean trellis, add a gazing ball, a few pots of big foot geraniums, small evergreens in pots for moving and long for spring. We have also planted akebia and an evergreen clematis for some permanent green in the back of the garden.
I personally donÂt plant too much indoors. I used to but it takes a lot of time and space. Instead I plan for the season ahead haunting nurseries (LOL). When I sow directly into the garden I find that I have less trouble with disease and a better crop. Peas and sweet peas can be planted outside as soon as mid February (mine are poking out of our recent snow!). When I do get the itch to plant too early I pot up a few herbs for the window sill.
I wish you much success as there is nothing more satisfying than enjoying a good meal that you have grown yourself.
~Lin
My absolute favorite place to buy seeds is www.bountifulgardens.org they have an eclectic selection of inexpensive heirloom and open pollinated seeds as well as a wealth of information on bio intensive gardening.

Our garden area (in the making) butts up against horse fields and the wind brings in ALOT of weeds during the winter/spring.
We started with an 8X8 raised bed and just mowed around the area.
This year we got old carpet to lay out pathways and are going to lay down gravel. We did this in the back yard and we had few weeds to dig up this week.
We are adding a couple more raised beds this year and added a greenhouse that I'm starting my veges in!
HTH Nancy

I use mulch, because I know I'll probably move a bed or two, and mulch improves the soil for while keeping the mud at bay.

I use a cheap pine bark mixed mulch in my potager. In the wet season it seems to absorb some of the water as the river gravel mulch which seems to become a water puddle for me.

I spent the day putting in a bed against my n/w split rail, w/ wire, fence. It's 3-4' deep, about 32' long so far. I put down brown paper, humus, peat, & compost-my neighbor watched me working all day, & said, 'Nothing will grow there, it's too low & wet'. I was planning on putting in some vegetables, (it's practically my only southern exposure), but now I think she's right-what veggies, if any, will work? If they don't, maybe I'll plant elephant ears, bananas, okra, & try to think of some other solutions...

Can you mound up your beds making them raised? That would eliminate the low, wet feature. I agree you need to utilize the southern exposure.
I grow in raised beds I made using the "lasagna" method. They work great for tomatoes, flowers, peppers.

Regarding the pathways, I used 3/8" pea stone and it worked out great. It was very cheap (about $9 per yard if memory serves), it looks nice, and was easy to install. Well, easy is relative I guess. It is of course very heavy, and you have to put landscape fabric down underneath it to prevent weeds from poking through. But it's easier than cobblestones or some other masonry product.

Regarding fencing - are you SURE you want to use vinyl fencing? We did, and I regret it. Sure, vinyl fencing has a lot going for it - it's reasonably priced, lasts for a long time, and doesn't need to be painted. But every time I look at it, I wish we chose something else. It just looks like.... well, cheap plastic.

My dream potager fence is wrought-iron (or maybe black aluminum) on top of stone. A 2-foot high mortared stone wall topped by the metal fence which would also be about 2-foot tall. The stone base would keep out the bunnies and most critters that dig, and the metal top would add accent and keep out the dogs. I've seen a fence like this around here and it looks great. Of course, I'm sure they paid dearly for it, but you only have to do it once and it would last for a long long time. Besides, what better to spend your money on than your potager? :-)

-Diggity

I used cedar wood chips over weed cloth around my beds, but when I tested my soil in my beds this spring, I found it to be completely depleted of nitrogen. Then I read in another GardenWeb forum that wood chips deplete the soil of nitrogen, so I wouldn't recommend it. It tends to draw earwigs, too.

I read in the landscaping forum once that there is a material called ABC which is used for construction. It stands for aggregate something-or-other. It's uneven sized small gravel that isn't round, and its advantage is that it's easily compactible with a hand tamper, and doesn't move around. Try searching for the thread over there under "paths". I was considering replacing my wood chips with it.

I think rock looks fabulous but I personally would cut my fingers off before using it again as a mulch. I landscaped my front when we moved here 10 or so years ago and last year decided to change everything. What a pain it was to dig up that rock!! Even when you thought you had it all, the shovel would screeeeeeech every time it came across a piece. When you use the fabric underneath it does work well to avoid weeds but eventually the fabric breaks down a bit and those pesty weeds persist. Lori

Rather than using weed cloth that (as someone said ) breaks down eventually, We go down to the carpet store and grab old carpet remnants for free!
We put pea gravel on top of that and it works great! Really keeps the weeds down for very little $!
I'll be spraying pre-emergent on the paths this year, though, for hopefully NO weeds! Nancy

This may only be true in my own area, but over the years, I have gradually learned to *hate* landscape fabric/weed cloth/mulch mat. I have used it under stones and under other mulchs and path materials. The runner grasses and other runner-spread weeds absolutely love it! They are much more difficult to deal with because they get fully integrated with the mulch mat to the point where you can't remove the weeds without tearing up the mat. The deep rooted weeds do their thing as if the barrier wasn't even there. And all the seedling weeds still need to be plucked out by hand......

For me, straight woodchip mulch in paths has worked best over time. Weeding is much easier, including the runner-types. Woodchip mulch in the gardenbeds themselves may very well decrease nitrogen levels, but they make the easiest-care paths. Just don't use the chips in the beds themselves.

Ditto on hating landscape fabric and rocks. I have a huge hosta bed in front of my house (came with the house) and it has the plastic type landscape fabric under mulch. I don't know how old it is, but it doesn't stop the weeds, as they either come through or just grow on top in the mulch and put their roots through. The mulch slides off on hills and you are left with the plastic. Whenever I get a chance I pull up some and replace the mulch. I don't have any more weeds where I've done that than where the fabric still is.

Right in front of our house is a foundation bed filled with river rock. It also had Spirea (sp) and Barberry. They were overgrown and with our little bug-eyed dogs the barberry was dangerous with the thorns so we dug them out. The rocks are at LEAST three-four inches into the soil! I'm going to put planters there, because there is no way I'm going to plant anything in that ground, we'd never get to the dirt!

Alys

Call me crazy but IÂve planted clover for the pathways.... I'm also a rank beginner:-) I recon it will be easy enough to smother the clover and go with something else if it doesn't work out. I just love the idea of barefoot visits in the late summer evenings. I also want the bees that the clover should help.

Well, I hope you don't step on any of those bees as you tip toe through the clover! :.)

:-) I'll take the chance! They'll all be passed out drunk from the nectar by the time my shoes come off.

"Well, I hope you don't step on any of those bees as you tip toe through the clover! :.)"

Ouch! I did that once when I was a teen on a field trip! Stomped the bee in the clover and then made the mistake of pulling out the stinger by grabbing it by the POISON SACK that was still attached, thereby emptying it into my foot! I didn't wear shoes for a week!

Many, MANY years later, I still love walking barefoot in clover...but I definately watch where I walk...LOL!