Garden Woes

I'm in a bit of a quandry over my gardens. I've never planted a winter garden before, but I decided to try it this year. I started plants inside from seeds. Once they were tall enough, I moved them into large styrofoam cups with holes for draining and put them outside to harden. Most of them are now ready to go in the ground and, since I don't expect anymore really warm weather, this is the perfect time to get them in the gardens. However . . .

It seems my summer crops aren't finished producing. The bell peppers and banana peppers are doing quite well. Dane's cowhorn peppers are producing much better than they did during the summer. Even my tomato plants, which did very little during the summer, are thriving now. But I can't get my winter plants in the garden without pulling out the summer ones first.

And I may have gone a LITTLE overboard with my winter seeds. I just wasn't sure how many would really make it, so I have something like 10 bean plants, 14 cauliflower, 20-something broccoli, peas, and I still haven't planted cabbage.

I need a new garden. That would solve all my problems. I can let the summer vegetables continue to produce until they freeze and die but put the winter plants in a new garden. Next year, since you're supposed to rotate crops, I could switch gardens and plant the summer things in the winter garden and vice versa.

But it seems a huge impossibility to put another box garden in right now. There's just too much to do, between Silent Auction, Dane's soccer, Deanna's volleyball, preparing for Christmas, putting up the summer vegetables, and trying to settle back down into a routine.

I'll have to give this some more thought. Maybe a solution will present itself yet.