It is mid-January, and, at this time of year, a girl's heart turns to thoughts of...
Yep. Gardening.
Last year was one of the worst gardens we're ever had, in terms of what got used in proportion to what got planted. Part of that was due to the drought that came through last summer, and part of that was due to that job-thing I found for myself.
I usually peruse the catalogs in January, buy some seed that looks promising and exciting, and also some that I've used before and enjoyed. This year I can't really start seeds inside, as my usual spot, our breezeway, has become a cathouse. Now, before you call the police on me, we have no red lights in our breezeway. We do, however, have 5 cats who spend the night in there, toasty warm. And they eat plants. So my starts would be doomed.
This year I'll be hitting the garden centers and even WalMart for my starts. It will limit the varieties I can use, that's true. But, on the other hand, some of my favorite veggies have come from starts I bought on a whim. For example, Paladin peppers. I found those in Farm and Fleet 2 summers ago, and they produced the biggest, blockiest, yummiest green peppers I've ever grown. Juliet tomatoes; not quite cherry tomatoes, not quite grape tomatoes, but delicious! Stay tuned to see what I find this year!
This weekend we have a houseful. Jay, Kris and the kids will be here for a post-Christmas party. We didn't get to see them for Christmas, so this will be fun. Ethan and Brandy are here for the weekend, although Ethan is spending the day at a CAP class. Ryan is here for the day, and Rundi is off with his family. (He has an aunt and uncle about an hour away from us.) We're still hunting for a host family for him. Matthew and Keri return from California tomorrow.
The weather is decidedly spring-like, which is just wrong. We have geese flying overhead, and I think I even heard sandhill cranes this morning, which usually means spring to me. I hope we're not in for more bad weather this year. that does not make for happy hobby farming!
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