What will be

It is February break, and I just planted my first bedding plants of the year 4 days ago. My planning process starts in late January when I determine where I will place things in crop rotation in my various beds (read this post for a detailed description of the planning process). We start all our plants in a grow table Mike picked up for us, then transfer them to our green house when it is warm enough. This year it is so warm that the greenhouse is already hitting double digits in the middle of the day sometimes, but it isn't heated and is not warm enough for sprouting.

We have been eating sprouts for a while, and I just planted pea shoots, which are always a treat. The weather has been so nice, I feel less desperate for something fresh to eat, but I am still excited. Pea shoots are great because you can plant and eat them, then cut again and eat them a couple of times until they are too tired to start over.

I have also started the most southern crops we grow, peppers and basil. This year I planted 30 basil plants and 25  peppers. The peppers are mostly bell and mini bell peppers, but I also planted some chili peppers. I will buy a jalapeno bedding plant in the spring to round out our pepper planting.  My timing and plant numbers are similar to last year when we had a good crop of peppers.

The last thing I planted was some spinach and lettuce. Most people don't realize how easy it is to grow your own greens indoor in the winter. Spinach is so hardy that I was cutting my own in my front yard in October last year and will be able to plant it first in the spring in the floor of the greenhouse (built in 2008 by Mike and my dad). We will be eating these greens in March, and they will never be planted in the open garden.

The start of the planting year is always exciting for me. Because I live in a 2B Zone, I have a long, cold winter with a short summer. I really have to make the most of the growing time I have.  Last week we finished the last of our potatoes and we roasted our last pumpkin yesterday. Our last fresh storage vegetable is squash, and once it is gone this week, we'll only be eating frozen, canned and dried things from our 2011 crop. I will spend the next several months planting, dreaming and preparing for my new garden season, then by April, I will be out in the yard again celebrating spring. I spent a happy half an hour on my deck two days ago just anticipating. Mike laughs because I find a small snow-free patch, wrap myself in a blanket and drink hot chocolate just to stay out there.  But like the grow table full of soil, I don't really care about what is.  I can see through that to what will be.

Prep for Winter

Mike, the girls and I spent some afternoon time in the yard today preparing for the upcoming winter. Last night was our second frost, and it was a light one nearly a month after the first one. 

I have already pulled out many of the annual plants and am enjoying the seasonal color of foliage as it is turning. I rake leaves from the grass onto the beds to protect them (especially important now that I have planted so many more bulbs).  This time of year there is so much plant waste just from pulling things up that Mike actually has two compost piles - the regular one and a temporary pile in the garden itself.

Today the girls and I focused on converting the greenhouse to protect fall crops. Anwyn and I  pulled the last of the tomatoes and basil in the greenhouse and Leo made our final batch of fresh bruschetta. Mike and Leo saved basil seeds and Anwyn dug some carrots. Then Mike transplanted some spinach and chard into the greenhouse. The stuff in the greenhouse will be edible until it is about -15 degrees C outside.

We are actually still eating quite a bit from the garden. Chard, potatoes, spinach, beets, strawberries (just a few) and carrots are the big items. We are also eating butternut and spaghetti squash from storage. Fresh herbs, especially chives and mint are still doing well also.  The garden has large bare patches, and we use these for dumping the dirt from various planter boxes, which we will mix back into the garden before planting.  Another patch of bare dirt serves to hold a pile of fresh compost for use in the spring when it thaws. 

I had a good gardening year this year, and have little to do now before the end. We'll need to dig the rest of the root veggies before the ground freezes, and put away the outdoor furniture (I have already drained the fountain). I also have to dig up my few remaining bulbs for fall flowers, like the gladiola along the garage. They are my last flowers and I am sad to see them go, so I am delaying as long as I can. I know when they go I'll have six months before my next bulbs bloom outside.

More than one type of Harvest

What a satisfying day this has been. I spent it with people I love, doing things I love, eating fresh things from the yard. It really doesn't get much better than that.

I started my day at 7:30 with a quick breakfast and a trip to have a morning "coffee" with Jaime and Erin. The trees were a beautiful golden colour interlaced with splashes of apple red. By the time we were done, I felt so peaceful and happy that my grocery shopping didn't even dent my zen like calm.  I picked Anwyn up and came home to do a flurry of the weekend chores: three loads of laundry, picking, watering, homework with the girls, and a bath. By 1 I had read my book, loved the leftover root veggies for lunch and was taking laundry off the line.

Perspective is everything. Remaking my bed downstairs I was happy to have fresh sheets, not oppressed by folding all the laundry. I made squares, and felt happy to use some of the zucchinni, apples and raspberries I had frozen, not mad about the dishes. My house is 25C and I have 5 loud girls over who I just taught debate to for two hours, but I am happy. I'll even be happy when 4 of them sleepover tonight. . .

Today I spent time in my yard, and I am cooking a great pasta sauce full of my fresh ingredients for our supper. I picked fresh flowers and celebrated the fact that the new windows open so widely the house will cool quickly. It's a good day, and I have more than one type of harvest. As the girls giggle together over the veggies and dip they are making, I feel very blessed.