Planning

Here I sit looking through a dusty window at a dreary day. Windy and rainy. February. The worst month of the year in the Midwest. The month of waiting. March, although often times equally dreary and cold, holds the promise of spring. We can feel it, smell it, count the days to it so lest we be caught unprepared, in February we have to plan!

I have always loved gardening. Now please keep in mind that this does not mean I am a good gardener...it simply means I enjoy it. However, our recent ecomony has turned my love for gardening into a necessity. Last year I had an abundance of tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, spinach, radishes, greeen beans and zuchinni.

This year I plan to have all of that and more. I love cooking with herbs so last year I planted some in the large garden but lost track of them and as time wore on was unable to identify them except for the lemon balm. This year, I will be starting them indoors. I picked up a few packets at Menards over the weekend and plan to get more We use a lot of oregano, basil, lemon and cilantro but I would like to experiment with some others. In the past we have used a garden tiller, a simple plan and planted. I will be using this book along with the advice of my friend Terri who runs a beautiful, successful, organic farm just a few miles away. She is able to supply the local cafes with produce and fresh herbs! (I am so jealous.) I will be thrilled just to able to enlarge my garden keeping my family and friends in fresh produce for the summer and fall. Last year I did quite a bit of canning and freezing and this year I am going to experiment with salting. We made gallons of salsa from mild to extra hot...basic to black bean and corn. Lots of work but well worth it! My husband makes soup for one of the local V.F.W posts several days a week to make sure that some of the older vets have a healthy lunch and our garden provides a great deal of the ingrediants he uses.

Well, I am off to purchase some small containers and soil for the herbs. I will get them started and placed in my kitchen bay window tomorrow and we will see what happens!