Waiting for Spring

Spring is coming....please?

Normally there is a tug of war at the beginning of March between Winter and Spring. This year, Spring is notably absent from the fight, although I understand she plans to make an appearance this week. The many recalls on veggies this year, especially lettuce, have made me determined to get a garden going. I have the raised beds provided to me by the closing of Totalily Water Gardens (their water lily tanks), and many walking neighbors who probably would appreciate some free veggies. Because I never buy seeds from the many seed catalogs that arrive here via postal mail and I purchase my starts from Mountaintop Greenhouses right down the road, I had to find a way to funnel my spring energy. I purchased a potting bench to serve as a rolling roadside vegetable giveaway cart.

I used to have a beautiful tile-topped stand alongside the road for veggies and other free stuff I regularly give away, until the day someone took the word "free" over-literally and took the entire farm stand. I'll lock the cart to the fence when it's out, and I'll bring it in at night, since that appears to be necessary.

I do need to sit down and put pencil to paper to plan the raised beds. Normally I plant haphazardly, and I always regret it. I'll need to order a truckload or two of topsoil to fill the beds. I should have done that, and mixed in some local manure compost, last fall. Last fall, however, our entire region was worrying more about flooding than planning gardens a half-year in the future.

When I have a garden I have a lot more contact with my neighbors. There is always more than I can eat, or weeks when I'm traveling when I need others to harvest, or food rots on the vine. When I'm out weeding, I'm actually outside when neighbors go for walks along our country road. I've been a virtual hermit other than work for the past year, and that needs to change.

Any suggestions on what to plant? I tend to stay away from things that are really cheap to buy (carrots for example). And not only do I dislike eggplant, it attracts flea beetles. I plant cherry tomatoes instead of full-sized ones because they tolerate my periodic absences. My house sitters don't seem to understand that when I leave full buckets of water near a container, that means to empty the ENTIRE bucket on the plants, not just part of it, so everything I plant needs to be able to deal with a few days without full watering. I think they worry about drowning the plants, not realizing that the containers drain so easily.

Kale grows long into the winter, and I prefer swiss chard to spinach when it comes to sauteed greens.

And of course: Flowers.

Suggestions are appreciated!

Yes, there will be cats posts soon. I took two wandering tom cats to the veterinarian today to be neutered. Of course, I forgot to get photos.