Compostings

When I first started driving it was about 1988.  It was Spring and I was 16 and a half.

I had a mullet.  A beautiful, ridiculous mullet that was like Patrick Swayze or Richard Marx.

I liked music (still do) and it was that year that I started a tradition.  I had my mother’s car – a Chevy Celebrity station wagon (I know ladies, I know). On one of the first truly spectacular days of that Spring, I drove down a gorgeous back road in Middle Haddam, Connecticut with the windows down.  My mullet was likely waving gloriously in the breeze.  It was probably mid May and the trees, full and round from their leaves, were leaning perfectly to form a tunnel.  I flew down that street and had Led Zeppelin Living Loving Maid completely cranked to 11.

Each Spring I have repeated that ritual.  Always with that song even though my tastes have become more refined.  Today everything was in place for it again, but there just aren’t any leaves yet.  Still, I drove down that road with my two boys in the back seat – both of them trying to holler over the volume We’re too hungry to rock out!!!!!  It’s too loud!!!  Somebody save ussssssssss!!!!!!

What a gorgeous day.  But I couldn’t help myself and I had to listen to a different song.  This one is from The Shins and it just makes me think about being a kid and playing outside.  It’s not quite about that, but what can I tell you.  That’s where it takes me.

One By One All Day – The Shins

Howdy, lem,” my grandfather said with his eyes closed
Wiping the eastbound dust from his sunburned brow
A life before doubt.

I smell the engine grease and mint the wind is blending
Under the moan of rotting elm in the silo floor.

Down a hill of pine tree quills we made our way
To the bottom and the ferns where thick moss grows
Beside a stream.

Under the rocks are snails and we can fills our pockets
And let them go one by one all day in a brand new place.

You were no ordinary drain on her defenses
And she was no ordinary girl
Oh, Inverted World
If every moment of our lives
Were cradled softly in the hands of some strange and gentle child
I’d not roll my eyes so.

A softer song that makes me think I should be so darn cynical all the time.  Anybody else have Spring rituals or songs?

I’ve got the seed packets.  They’re right in front of me! Come on!  I know it’s only March 10th, but can’t these peas go in the ground?  It’s 55 degrees.

That’s right.  55 degrees in Connecticut.  I’m in my bathing suit.  White skin blinding the children.

Fine.  Too early to plant my peas, but it was warm enough to work the dirt a bit.  I’ve got a lovely infestation of weeds going that will require more work, but I got to hoe ‘em around a bit.

Since my beds are raised, the soil is actually workable right now down to a few inches.  They’ve been covered in a dome of snow and it’s allowed for some spinach snacks through the winter.  I’ve been reading Eliot Coleman’s “Winter Harvest Handbook” (Podchef’s review here) and there is no question that with just a little construction, I’d be able to eat greens all winter long.

In any event, we were out today.  Light duty, but the dog and the boy were loving it.

There are a lot of very good gardening blogs out there.  The list in my blog roll are some of the best that I’ve found given what I am interested in.

So, what am I interested in?

1. Blogs that deal with vegetable gardening almost exclusively. I’m not opposed to flowers, it’s just that I don’t do anything with them other than plant for pollinators or pest repelling power.
2. Blogs that are mostly small scale.  There are plenty of blogs that I read that do things MUCH bigger than me.  But, even if they do, they tend to view things in a small way.  I’m interested in large-scale organic farms, but much of what they do isn’t practical for me.  The blogs that matter the most to me, look like me (small, backyard vegetable garden) or can talk to me like me (larger scale farms that get small-scale operations).
3. Blogs that are nice.  Mean doesn’t cut it for me!

That’s about it.

Blotanical is a wonderful aggregator for gardening blogs, but even that site doesn’t let me filter through all of the flower bloggers.

So, I am hopeful that Google’s custom search engine thing can make a big difference.  If you haven’t seen it, check it out here.

I have built my first custom search engine and I’ve tried to incorporate most of the vegetable garden blogs that I like.  Please send me your URL if you think you’ve got a blog that hits my big three above.  If you’d like to try my custom search engine, here it is!  It still pulls from the whole web, but it’s supposed to pull more from the blogs I select.

We’re in a cold stretch here in Connecticut.  Up until about a week ago I was still able to pluck a few spinach leaves here and there.  Here we are just checking out the state of affairs.

The seed order is in and my plan (such as it is) for this year’s garden is done.  I will need to start some of my seeds in the next few weeks.  This will require once again that I take over my friend’s furnace room.  It’s warm and out of the way and we can set up shelves and lights without worrying about cluttering up a main living area.

This year’s garden will be less diverse, better spaced, and less haphazard.  I say this each year, but then once I’m actually crawling around in the dirt planting stuff, I go nuts.  I start scattering seeds hither and yon, willy nilly, dervishly spinning and tossing.

In any event, here’s the picture of the plan (click to embiggen).  I am trying to focus on the plants that I like to grow and eat the most.  These tend to be greens  - especially cut and go types, beans (solely poley this year), broccoli, and peas.  I like vegetables that keep producing, but I am planning successions as usual this year.