Spring Fever!

Sorry for the silence over the past several days, I've got an acute case of spring fever. It was brought on by the rather unseasonable weather we've been having - mid to upper 60's in FEBRUARY, no less! I've spent the past 48 hours planning the return of my vegetable garden. I didn't have one for the past 2 years, but now I'm ready to return to my crunchy granola roots and play in the dirt some more.

I've been poring over the seed catalogs, agonizing over decisions like: "Do we want bush beans, snow peas AND sugar snaps or just bush beans and snow peas?". Okra is a definite, but the Clemson Spineless seeds I want are sold out already everywhere online that I've checked. I'm hoping I can find a packet or 2 at Lowe's or Home Depot in a month or so. Tomatoes and peppers are also mandatory, but I'd rather buy the plants already started from vendors at our local saturday farmer's market on the Square. But that means I'll have to wait 'til May to get them in the ground. *sigh* Patience has never been my strong suit.

I want lots of cilantro seeds so I can have successive plantings throughout the summer, instead of having the plants bolt and die around 4th of July and then I can't make fresh garden salsa. I'm thinking I'm going to give tomatillos a go this year as well. I LOVE them, but they're always very dear at the grocery store and I end up buying the canned kind, which just doesn't compare to fresh.

We'll have to have some melons as well. I want to try the Orange Sunshine watermelon (I know, it's weird to contemplate a non-red watermelon, but there you have it it!) and a cantalope - or maybe a honeydew, I can't decide. And it wouldn't be a garden without yellow squash and zucchini, right? I'm gonna pass on some of the other things I usually grow like corn, potatoes and onions and instead try carrots and broccoli. I love, love, LOVE broccoli and fortunately, so do the kids. Dean? Not so much. But he's waaaay outnumbered.

The herb garden looks good already, but the annual herbs will need to be replaced. I've got my eye on about 6 different varieties of basil, plus dill, parsley and chamomile. I'm thinking I'm going to add ginger and lemongrass for variety. I could go on and on (and on and on...), but I think my enthusiasm has already overspent my wallet!

Spring Fever - I've got it baaaaaaad! Now, somebody please remind me of how excited I was when I'm knee-deep in weeds and whining about mosquitos this summer, ok??