Counting the Days....

Browsing the seed catalogs,
like children before Christmas.

The days ARE getting longer...

Planning the NEW garden...
("More of THIS, less of THAT"...excitedly)
("But WAIT...I LOVE those"....negotiation)

Marking the Almanac's "Last Frost" on the calendar...

Starting some seeds this week...

Starkraven brought home some small, expensive hot house tomatoes from the grocery store this week....
not bad for "store bought" in February.
The taste had a very brief suggestion of what a tomato SHOULD taste like....a very fleeting slight reminder,
but it put me into Tomato Euphoric Recall for the rest of the evening.
(Oh, how I miss them....sun warmed, perfectly vine ripened, juice running down my chin in the garden...)
.
.
.
.
.
One day closer....

i'm expanding my small one this year.

i never thought i would enjoy gardening as much as i do. it's something i plan to do every year from now on.

tending and growing your own veggies is a great feeling. not to mention the fun of sharing great tomatoes with family.

Great seed companies you may not know, part 1

http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Gardening/diggin-it/2010/0205/Great-seed-companies-you-may-not-know-part-1

The CS Monitor is one of the few credible "news" resources available today.
I don't always agree with them, but have respect for their organization.
I added that article to my "Garden" Bookmarks list.
Thanks.

We are planning to save some of our own seeds this year, and researching local, independently owned Seed Banks promoting Heritage and Heirloom seeds. There are a couple in our state, but as of yet, we know nothing about them beyond their websites.

but even once they moved to the city they were fortunate enough to have a vegetable, fruit and flower garden on a huge corner lot.

Having tasted warm, sun-ripened tomatoes right off the vine has prevented me from buying that watery-tasting stuff - although red and round and called tomatoes - at the grocery store. My grandparents grew everything... potatoes, green beans, carrots, peas, cabbage, radishes, lettuce. Various herbs. And wonderful gooseberries, raspberries, strawberries. Apples, pears, plums. My grandmother would can and preserve these during the summer. Nothing compares to homegrown fruit and vegetables.

Oh, how I miss our garden.

You are blessed.

We're buried in catalogs rights now. The hardest thing is deciding what NOT to grow.

how much I look forward to seeing your posts!

All the best to you and yours.

Much love from Europe! Solidarity...