Reams of Dreams

Last night, as I started to write this, it was seven degrees F with a wind chill of -12F. It's two above now (don't ask me about the wind chill)as our ice cold winter continues.  I'm grateful - it was supposed to be four below zero.  Thank heavens we can afford the heating bill.

Spring seems like it's months and miles away.  Will it ever come?  Will the polar vortex loosen its hold on us?

Stores are running out of ice melt and a bad storm is predicted for Sunday into Monday.

Never mind that southern friends on Facebook report tulip trees, paperwhites, and daffodils blooming.  Never mind that Charleston, South Carolina is in the 50's as I type.  Here in upstate New York, it is harsh winter, with the winds of early March already whipping around, making being outside an absolutely miserable process.

But there's a cure.

Seed catalogs!  Reams of dreams, thinking of that perfect garden we will grow this year.

In fact, I've already purchased my first two packets of seeds.  I was in a store the other day, and I couldn't resist.  These packets are both organic, and will be grown in Earth Boxes in our back yard.

I'm doing things a little differently this year, though.

I used to buy most all of my seeds mail order. Then, for the last couple of years, we have bought them locally, except for a handful of specialty items not available locally. We also bought a lot of mail order plants.

This year, we are going back partially to mail order, concentrating on catalogs (such as Baker Creek, above) that have signed the "Safe Seed Pledge".

If you are concerned about where your food is coming from and who is supplying the seed (and what has been done to that seed), what I would ask you to do is try to grow your own food as much as possible.

We have a small yard, and have used a community garden for many years.  I don't blog about my garden efforts enough.  Why?  I'm not sure, but, after all, my Twitter name is @RamblinGarden, and I need to do more garden blogging.

So you, my faithful readers, are put on notice.

I'm so looking forward to a home grown salad (featured above: spinach, filet beans, strips of red peppers) from our first produce.

The only thing this salad is missing is a good heirloom tomato.

Onion plants in our community garden, 2013

Before we know it, spring and summer will be here, and our garden will look like this.

But until then, we dream, and we make our seed lists.

In a few days: what we will be planting.

How are you spending the last few weeks of winter (if it is winter where you live)?