January Blues - Getting Garden Ready

It's January and it's been 4 months since the last blog post.  When the tomatoes got blight last fall and they all were removed, I opted to take a break for awhile and "refresh."  I went for a 26 mile hike, ventured down a 7-mile stretch of a whitewater river on a stand-up paddle board (twice), started and finished the 3-month P90X training program, and just enjoyed retired life for a change.   Now its time to get back in the swing of things and get ready for garden season 2013 (but still do my fun-stuff in between it all).   I learned a lot from last year's growing-our-own-food quest.  I overwhelmed myself with a LOT of food and now that we're in the heart of eating what I harvested, preserved and stored, I can make a fair judgement on what to add or lessen this year.  Here's the initial thought:

• Less canned pickled beans, more frozen local ham and green beans.
• More frozen green beans -- we gobbled those up first.
• No white or red potatoes - we just don't eat that many.  Can buy fairly cheap at the farmer's market. 
• Grow a couple BLUE potatoes - rich in antioxidants.
• May not grow dried beans - a lot of work and garden space for a relatively small harvest.  Dried beans are inexpensive to purchase.
• The onion harvest was PERFECT. 400 seedlings ordered.
• Butternut Squash goes back to the main garden.  It was grown on a slope in the herb garden last year and didn't do well. Hubby and I both missed our beloved butternut squash this winter.
• Sweet potatoes are getting started from my own harvest last year.  Had great success starting my own slips (last year was an experiment... this year I'm not purchasing slips).
• More sweet corn. Didn't have enough for storage.
• No soybeans.  Didn't do well.
• Broccoli soon to be started.
• Shell peas this year and sugar peas only to eat.  Sugar peas didn't freeze well.
• I found out hubby doesn't like tomatoes nor cucumbers!  So no more cukes.
• Tomatoes mostly for canning for winter.  Only 1 or 2 plants to eat fresh (heirloom of course).
• Peppers only for freezing... had to make WAY too much salsa last year (although my friends and family enjoyed the jars they received as gifts). May still do that.
• Lots more to come.... just beginning the process.