At Last! An Actual Post!

Ah, the joys of having something constructive to write about, for a change! The garden, which has been beckoning to me since late last month, has now increased its beckon from a gentle song to howl not unlike that of a banshee. "Plant something!" it screams, and even though I know I'm taking a risk to plant so early in Kansas (we've been known to get frosts in late April), I cannot deny this mad desire to get dirt under my fingernails any longer! So, this weekend, the game is afoot!

Well, at least the potatoes will be afoot. Yesterday, the Wonder Hubby actually took a day off from work, and after I had sufficiently recovered from the shock, we went to Lowe's to see if they had anything to plant yet. Now, I prefer to get my seeds and such from Hillside Feed and Seed, but I really haven't been at my best since Chaz and Loki passed, and Lowe's is much closer to us than Hillside. Going there was really kind of a whim, I didn't expect to find much in the way of vegetables to plant; it's just too early yet.

I think I mentioned that we covered over the area next to the house that served as our herb bed, didn't I? The previous owner of our house had planted ornamental grass on the southeast corner of that bed about 20 years ago, and no matter how hard we tried, that damned grass kept slowly but surely sneaking its way north until last year, when it finally completed its insidious mission and conquered the herbs and the bed. Can you say, "Aaaarrrrggghhhh!!!!" (I knew you could.) Now I hate ornamental grass with a deep and complete purple passion. There's just no way to dig it all out--it must be a close cousin of crabgrass or something....like mold, maybe. Or maybe the Tea Party (I'm just saying....) And I didn't want to use an herbicide in that area because...Hello! I want to grow stuff here! Besides, as I've said in the past, I'm trying to be as organic as possible in my gardening experiments. So, last year, we didn't plant any herbs in the bed; in fact, we dug what few were left up (and did that ever hurt! My sage and rosemary plants were 15 years old--ouch!-- and I had no where to re-plant them!) Last fall, we covered the bed with black plastic, which we will keep in place all year this year, and hopefully, hopefully! -- we will have burned the ornamental crap out with the assistance of the gentle Kansas sun (snork!). Next year, assuming all goes well, we will re-design and re-plant the bed, after adding new soil and compost, of course. Wish us luck!

However, that leaves me without an herb garden, and being the Kitchen Witch that I am, that's not an optimal circumstance. Now I do have a big tub that I grew parsley, basil and oregano in last year. However, while at Lowe's, we found this cute little urn that looks like a strawberry pot, only its set up with herb seeds: parsley, basil, oregano, cilantro and chives. So, I think I'll plant that tomorrow (and take pictures!), and I'll wait and start a sage or two and rosemary in the big pot next month. That way, they can be transferred to the herb garden next year (assuming the black plastic does its grass-zapping thing), and I'll use the big pot for something else. Don't ask me what yet, you know I don't plan ahead that much! I've got some other unused pots around the house, maybe I'll just plant a bunch of them up with perennial herbs this year so that they can be the base of my permanent herb bed next year. We'll have to see how far the energy meter goes in the next couple of weeks.

To get back to potatoes (you thought I forgot, didn't you? Eh? Eh?), while at Lowe's yesterday, we found what looks like a mini orchard basket full of packest of seed potatoes -- Freedom russets, Superior whites, and red Norlands. I tried to find sweet potatoes, too, but no such luck! There's quite a number of seed potatoes in this basket, I don't think I'll have enough room in the garden to plant them all...unless I get really creative (hey, those frames we used for cold frames two winters ago are just stacked there by the shed, taking up space. I wonder.....) I'm hoping the Wonder Hubby will have some energy to help me plant the spuds Sunday; tomorrow, it's supposed to rain. (Of course! After all, we got the garden tilled weekend before last, and then it snowed! And froze! And then, just for good measure, it rained!)

AND I'm deciding what greens I want to plant this year in the cool weather, which I have to get into the ground before the April monsoon season -- those will simply have to come from Hillside Feed and Seed, their selection of seeds is quite amazing, and last year's quality was almost too good to be true. Some 3 or 4 lettuces, I think; baby carrots--of course! I'll need spinach again, oh and that wonderful mix of salad greens that they carry...... Oh, it feels so good to be planning and planting again! Maybe now my health will improve and I can give the doldrums the slip for once, and for all!