There's nothing like an impending ice storm to make me yearn for spring. Only two weeks ago today, we experienced "Snowmageddon" as we're now refering to it in Atlanta. Now an ice storm is scheduled to arrive tonight, no doubt bringing even more chaos with it.
I've been engrossed in my usual mid-winter wallowing in garden reading, research and planning since the snowfall two weeks ago (which quickly turned to a highway full of ice and trapped motorists causing my normal one-hour commute to swell to a horrifying 12-hour debacle). Those twelve hours provided me lots of time to fantasize about raised beds full of seedlings poking their heads above the compost, tiny bright chickadees flocking to the thistle feeder, and rows of heirloom vegetables set out in newly manured soil. I've also been delving into numerous books these past weeks, such as Niall Edworthy's
The Curious Gardener's Almanac and books on herbs, propagation, and earthworms (Amy Stewart's
The Earth Moved).
The plans for this year's garden are taking shape. I've received my seed order from
Baker Creek already: Giant Red Re-Selection Celery, Zwolsche Krul Celery (a leaf celery), Atomic Red Carrot, Beit Alpha Cucumber, Red Orach, Garden Cress, Ananas d'Amerique a Chair Verte Melon, Red Creole Onion, Lincoln Garden Peas, Chocolate Habanero, Bullnose Pepper (like the ones Thomas Jefferson grew at Monticello), Kamo Kamo (a squash from New Zealand), Black Krim Tomato (one of the most nutritious tomatoes), and Blue Berries Tomato. I've already sown the onions indoors under a grow light, as well as some parsley and chives, because they need a head start.
There's a myth that parsley seed goes to the devil and back seven times (with the devil taking his share of the seeds each time) because of its slow and erratic sprouting habit. Other parsley myths exist; one claims that only evil people can grow good crops of parsley. Another one says that if parsley grows well in a household's garden, the wife rules the roost. I love growing parsley; I never knew how many uses it had until I was married to a man from the Middle East who insisted on putting it in a lot of dishes I never would have thought of putting parsley in. Eggs, for example. When he scrambled eggs, he would put a handful of miced parsley in until the eggs were quite green with it. The Italian flat-leaved parsley has a stronger taste than the curled-leaf variety, but I love to see the curly parsley growing at the edge of beds because of its attractive shape, and so I grow both types.
Beets are a new vegetable I'm planning to grow this year. I never liked beets until a couple of months ago when I tried a
Brown Sugar-Glazed Beets recipe for the sake of a friend who loves them. I steamed them for 15 minutes and then put them in a brown sugar and orange juice-based sauce that cooked until it was thick and bubbly. I've since become a big fan of beets. I also
juice them with apples, carrots, and ginger. I never thought I would like beets, but I'm a complete convert now, and have a raised bed reserved exclusively for them.
I have Early Wonder Tall Top Beet seed from High Mowing Seed Company to experiment with this year.
When you're juicing, you go through quite a lot of vegetables, especially celery and carrots. I've reserved raised beds for each of these as well.
I guess I actually enjoy winter weather to some extent. It motivates me to dream about the spring and what my garden could become this year. It never quite comes to pass as I imagine it, but it's fun to think about the possibilities. As W.E. Johns says in
The Passing Show, "One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides."
Wishing you happiness in spades,
M.R.S.
