First Dirt

Posted on Friday 18 April 2008 at 06:12

I spent two hours digging over a flowerbed today. For the last two years, my beds have suffered serious neglect in favour of the market garden. Now that I'm no longer doing that...well, actually, I feel like myself again.

One of the reasons I quit the market garden was that it was killing my enjoyment of horticulture. The other was that it just didn't pay. For less work, I can save way more money off the food bill than what people were paying me to garden for them. Plus, no weekly hour-long drive, and no Mr. Ornery Customer (I only had one of those types, but he was an amazing jerk).

So, today was the first day of the rest of my season. I'm not starting seedlings this year. I'm actually looking forward to my yard. I'm looking forward to having time for flowers again. As an online pal told me back when I started at this place, "Vegetables are for the body. But flowers are for the soul."

Rites of Spring

Posted on Wednesday 4 April 2007 at 12:37

Those of you in cold climates, like me, probably know the frustration of Trying to Get Things to Grow.  Things die. They keel over of stress. They harrumph along in surly, unwilling growth, unhappy with their locale.

I want to mention a Yahoo!Group that will suit you well. Particularly if you're on the Canadian Prairies somewhere, but also in mountains, or even northern Scotland.

It's a close-knit group, with the majority of vocal members posting from Winnipeg and Brandon, Manitoba, and Edmonton, Alberta. There are annual get-togethers and Obsessed-Gardener Field Trips (as in, to the growing fields).

There is also an annual tradition called "the first walk of spring." Now, I did not exactly take the first walk of spring this morning. It tends to involve wearing jammies, carrying a cup of coffee, and rooting around through half-frozen flowerbeds if you're one of the real die-hards.

I stepped out on the deck with my cocoa, and I could see my breath. The next thing that happened was I smashed my thigh on the barbecue my loving husband had planted squarely in front of the door "for accessibility and wind protection."

I kinda said a cuss word. Then I put my cocoa on the patio table, threatened my kittens away from it, and shoved the offending barbecue halfway across the deck.

As far as the garden part, well, I went to the railing and peeked around the corner of the house at the nearest flowerbed. It's still half-covered in snow. Good enough. I've looked. I stood in the chilly breeze a moment longer, thinking wistfully of my coat and fuzzy slippers. I stuck my foot on the kitten and rubbed his tummy. Then I went back in.

Oh, well. I guess I'm half a Cold-Zoner. Anyway, to get back to the point, the group is called ColdZoneGardens, and you can find it by clicking here.