What did you do last week?

Somebody asked me this recently and I couldn't remember on the spot. How did time just blur into 7 days past and no memory? Then I finally remembered. Yes, that was it; I had totally immersed myself in garden planning and inspiration. Gardening books and magazines took over a corner of the living room, my bedside end table, the dining room table, the passenger side front seat of the jeep, and apparently even my actual sleeping space.


This energy eventually found a small release when we went shopping for seeds.  I found some seeds that epitomized each of the kids' personalities and interests.

• For Fairy Girl: Botanical Interests Fairy Meadow Blend and also more sugar snap peas.
• For Baby Dragon: broccoli, Dragon carrots (they're purple, so cool!), and by special order, heirloom Orca beans.  They are also known as Calypso beans or Yin and Yang beans because they are black and white.click here to see- scroll down
• For Boo: I think we might try blueberries this year and of course more cherry tomatoes.
• For Mama: Purple tomatillos and peach colored calendula, plus lots and lots of different sunflowers.

It's still too early to start any seeds indoors, but the right time is getting closer.  I had heard that an old timer used to plant his peas on Saint Patrick's Day and I did that last year and had a bumper crop.  Depending on my other distractions, I will try that again.

I also have a birthday party to plan for next Saturday.  Hey, I have thought for a party activity- starting seeds!

Snow days and garden planning.

It's 9 degrees Fahrenheit. I have gardening magazines and books strewn around the house in all my reading corners. I am trying to remember the gardens of my childhood and be realistic about what I can actually grow in Washington versus California. A week ago a childhood friend posted that the almond trees were blooming. I miss that. Those orchards are indelibly fixed in my mind. I would watch out the window as the rows of trees were first diagonal as we approached in the car and then straight back and then diagonal again as we passed. My memories are of blue sky above the trees, green patches of grass at their bases and delicate clouds of blossoms suspended in their branches.

I also have memories of strawberries from the garden, a massive bed of asparagus (that I didn't eat- but whose fern-like growth I admired), and the grapes we planted and weren't able to harvest before we moved.  I remember bell peppers and corn.  I remember the cherry tree in our neighbors yard that hung a little over the fence. And I remember the classroom bunny, "Fluffy," that I got to take home at summer and keep.

The fact is, with a bad back, I can't do much of the garden work I wish I could. Digging, hoeing, or anything repetitive sends me into migraine land.  So I have to meter out my enthusiasm with what I can convince my hubby to do in his "spare time." Last year he built me two 2 x 5 redwood boxes to plant and gave me several big pots as well. But now I have designs for other parts of the yard -the yard that is currently under deep snow.

For now, I read and reread favorite books and study companion planting, soil amendments, and water saving techniques. I have internal debates over a plant's possible contribution to an edible landscape or what other permaculture principles it may fit. Dare I plant something for mere ornamentation? Or what am I going to do with all that chicken manure accumulating out there? Can I convince Grant to build a rabbit hutch this year? Can I sneak a cow out back? Yes, these possibilities are the luxury of winter thoughts about gardening or animal husbandry.  As soon as the ground is actually workable and my simple hand trowel meets the soil, this kind of thinking will shrink drastically as I realize the resistance in my own body to so much "optional" work. It's all about pacing myself.