Everyone does it. In fact there are so many acronyms for it, it can be mind-boggling! However, PPP, Planning DOES Prevent Problems.

When you and your spouse are sitting down in easy chairs, thinking about your garden and what it produced, was it successful, did you get the amount you wanted, and last of all, was it good, ask yourselves questions such as did we produce too much of this and not enough of that? Do we really want to grow that? Was the crop we planted everything we wanted? If you are like me, you think of things in the spring long past last year's results. So, after we plant a crop we should write down what we planted and under what we plant there should be sufficient space for us to comment on the quality of it when we harvest it. Next year when we buy our seeds we have something to go on. If you were fortunate to have written down the variety and the amount you planted you really have something to go on. Look, I'm not trying to complicate your life. I'm not trying to take the fun out of gardening but only trying to make things easier and simpler. The U Of A Cooperative Extension office has a free bulletin Vegetable Varieties for Arizona, on the various varieties tested and suitable for this climate. Call or stop by for a copy at the office in Willcox or Sierra Vista. Another, Ten Steps to a Successful Vegetable Garden, is also available. Now if you are from somewhere else and you have a favorite variety of a crop, like tomatoes, not recommended for this area, don't abandon it if it has done well for you. But, you just might like to try some of the varieties recommended for this area and maybe you might find a new favorite!