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??
Chili Rellenos, anyone? (I know most people probably use Anaheim, but I like Poblano.) I also planted 3 poblano peppers and WOW!! I love peppers and this kind is darn tasty - very thick and sweet with just a hint of heat. If you dry them, they're called ancho chiles and are awesome in tamales! I'm going to try fire-roasting, cutting into strips and preserving them. My Dad has this awesome recipe for Pasta Veracruz that he made up that uses them roasted and it is sooooo delicious. I'll get him to write it down for me and then I'll put it up on Radish Roses.
I did multiple/staggered plantings of tomatoes this year. Now that the first wave of determinate "Patio" tomatoes have spent themselves out, we're about to get our second flush of fruit from the other varieties we planted. There are about 8 plants growing right now, both determinate and indeterminate and I'm ready for more 'maters! Don't those look good? I'm thinking we might eat some fried green tomatoes with dinner sometime this week! Sounds weird, I know, but they are awesome!!
No, this funky giraffe isn't mine. I snapped a picture of it hanging around the hosta bed of a family a few streets over while I was driving around not too long ago. I wish I had one like it though! The metal artist used to have an awesome storefront on The Square, converted from a seriously old gas station, but he had to close up shop recently. In this economy, people are more concerned with paying bills and buying groceries than they are in spending money on handmade yard art - and rightly so.
A Flower Tower!!
