Gardening waits for Nowoman

My fail proof plan of gardening preparation is crumbling down around me. Spinach isn't in. Carrots aren't in. Onions aren't in. Snow peas aren't in. It's a disaster! Turns out my 'sharpie drawn calendar in a marble notebook' plan has left me to starve. Why is it that I keep learning the hard way that the easy way is just easier?

No, I don't want to use a pre-made chart. I'll research each vegetable and make up my own chart that isn't as user friendly, lacks key information and took hours to make. Brilliant idea. And I certainly don't want to use a web site that will e-mail me when to plant things to make it as idiot proof as possible. What fun would that kind of time management efficiency be?

In related news, I was out doing some bed sprucing today (that is, raking last year's dead leaves off of everything so the perennials have a fighting chance) and I came across the mint patch. Now as a new gardener, plants that run amok is kind of a fresh concept. My old gardening perception was: plant it once and it's on its own. If it spreads, less work for me! (And by me, I mean my husband, as I have planted almost nothing in our yard. And almost is kind of an exaggeration.)

Well, that was until I realized that things like mint are space hogs. Not only do they spread around in their little area, but they send off roots that choke surrounding plants so as to snatch up their designated patches as well. Oh heck no. The mint has been executed. There will be no further mint. And if memory serves, the Black Eyed Susan's will need to shape up or they will meet a similar fate. I may be a Marylander at heart, but those little witches step foot in my garlic bed and they'll get more than a black eye from me.