We got a ton of snow yesterday - finally. It's not far enough into the winter yet where I hate the snow. We actually hadn't had a whole lot yet this year - just one other big blizzard. Now we have about a foot. The kids were thrilled to have a snow day, and I worked from home.
Even though I still had to work, it was nice to be in my p.j.'s and not have to get anyone ready in the morning. Except for a few interruptions while I was in over-the-phone meetings, the kids were great about entertaining themselves. One of the interruptions involved Addie sitting next to me for about 10 minutes - hiccuping. I had to laugh out loud when it occurred to me later that the other people on the phone meeting probably think it was me.
Ironically, in the middle of this big snowstorm, I got my Seed Saver's Exchange catalog. Isn't the cover pretty?
(Interesting, I just looked up their site to include the link - looks like there's a bit of politics going on there - will have to read more about that later.) I just love poring over this as soon as I get it. Each year, I'm getting a little better at holding myself back from buying way more than I can possibly plant in my little square foot gardens. This is really hard because they have so many cool varieties. I thought I was being reasonable the first year when I bought only 6 varieties of tomatoes, but one little seed packet really goes a long way.
This year, I really want to have enough tomatoes to can, so I'm thinking of going with just one canning-type variety. I always want to be able to grow all my salsa ingredients, but I never have any luck with cilantro, onions, or peppers. I do always have luck with peas, so I think I'll plant some of those - maybe snow peas this year. And some sweet peas - the flowers. I just love those.
When I was in the UK in May, I had this leafy green a couple of times called "rocket". You've probably all heard of it, but I hadn't. My Seed Saver's catalog uses "rocket" and "arugula" interchangeably (according to Wikipedia, they are the same. Hmm, or was it "wild rocket" that I had?). I think I'll plant some of that too, and maybe some spinach.
I've never had a ton of luck with gardening - probably because I'm not incredibly focused on it (oh yeah and a little grossed out by all the bugs involved) - I mean there's crafting to do after all, but my goal this year is to just plant a few things and see how that goes. I can supplement the rest from our great little farmer's market.
I better sign off and get to work. Happy thoughts of Spring.
