March 2008
We survived a March blizzard and now are trudging through March mud. 
Mud is one sign that spring is on it's way but I'll be glad when the puddles in the boot corner disappear and extra laundry subsides. When the sun shines, the greenhouses are quite pleasant to work in, even bringing beads of sweat while I work. I'm trying to stay caught up with the weeds nestled among all the greens that are starting to regrow. Soon the tiny lettuce plants that overwintered will be ready for transplanting so they can grow into tasty heads. Pictured are a row of fall planted spinach and some overwintered spinach that will soon be full size. Though we are thankful for these greens, we are also looking forward to fresh tomatoes and other veggies of summer. The kids and I will rub our hands over the tiny tomato plants in the window just to get a whiff of the wonderful tomato aroma.
Seed orders have arrived - it is like opening a box of candy. 
Some new experiments for this year include golden beets, rutabagas, red celery, orange peppers and of course, several interesting tomatoes like Pink Accordian (chosen by my daughter because grandma plays an accordian), Bi-color cherry and German Red Strawberry. Now the challenge is to see if my enthusiasm in succumbing to marvelous seed catalog descriptions will translate to enthusiastic efforts for actually getting everything in the ground. I planted a flat of peppers this week plus greens, cabbage, broccoli and onions. The plan is to get the main crop of tomatoes planted in flats tomorrow - 20+ varieties. A flat of flowers and various herbs is next on the list. The dead looking stevia, lemon verbena and pineapple sage plants emerged from the basement into the light to see if they have life left in their roots. Every year I'm ready to toss them on the compost pile and then suddenly green shoots start appearing. Spring is a time to be patient!
I will begin making weekly entries again in April.
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