Garden Planning!

I can't believe it's that time already! Hope springs eternal, I suppose, and my hope is in a rich vegetable crop. We've ordered clean, manured fill and seeds, and I just have to pick up some local potatoes and onions when the time is right. Within a couple weeks, there will be seeds growing on shelves in my dining room, starting themselves toward a promising future in our fantastic garden! I used an online planner to plan out our space, and I loved it. It lets you drag to fill a space with vegetables, and then tells you how many of the plants will grow in that much space so you know exactly what yield to expect and how many seeds to buy. Then it compiles a seed list for you. It's a free trial, but I might spring for the yearly fee ($25) so it will save my plans from year to year and advise me on planting for next year (it will tell me how to rotate my crops to keep my soil healthy.) It also sends me emails about what should be planted when, so I got an email today telling me that my garlic chives can be started indoors within the next two weeks. Score! You can find it at GrowVeg. If you're a garden novice like me, you might just love it. Here's my spring garden plan. You can't really see them all, but there are small boxes of herbs on the left (14 types—YUM!) plus a box of leafy greens and radishes that will become broccoli, kale, and brussels sprouts in the fall, cabbages, cauliflower and tomatillos along the fence, eggplant, pole beans, peas, fennel, garlic, echinacea, TOMATOES!, peppers, carrots, parsnips, onions, zucchini, and potatoes. We're still on the fence (pun intended) about the strawberries along the front, but we'll see what happens.

It makes me feel so prepared. Now, all I have to do is build those 20 boxes . . .

All done!

So, Michael and I did the lasts of this today, and we're happy to not be shoveling right now and for the next few days. I have to record here that Michael was the true titan of snow removal for this storm. He shoveled Tuesday before we left for Peoria, helped me that afternoon, got us first thing Wednesday to tackle it, and was out again this morning before I was even out of bed to clear out what the plows left behind. On Tuesday he told the neighbour that, on a scale of 1 to 10, he likes shoveling about a 7. This morning he informed me that it's now more like a 4. I suppose too much of a good thing can influence your excitement.

Despite his waning affection, he never yielded. He started first, worked until he was exhausted, then asked for help to finish. He and I discussed this morning how difficult it was getting for him to get the snow over the mountainous drifts that only grew as we shoveled. Still, he shoveled on, carrying the icy blocks to the edge and lifting them over. How can a Dad hope for any more than that from or for his children in the work arena? I predict this one will be quite successful in whatever he chooses because he has learned to work hard and long.

Here's the evidence of his efforts.

Snowstorms, shovels, and neighbourhoods

Just for the record, it's not shoveling.

at all.

Shoveling is when you take your shiny shovel and push snow to the edge of the driveway, toss it up over the edge, and repeat until your cracked concrete shows its smiling face once again from house to street.

This was not like that.

at all.

This was using the world's largest spatula and carefully carving gigantic masses of snow cake that you carefully carry to the edge of the yard and feed to the constantly bloating, ever so ungrateful lawn and then turning around to grab the lower layer left behind because the spatula wasn't big enough and you weren't strong enough to get it all at once. I can now, with certainty, testify that our lawn has enjoyed its fill of snow cake.

Despite the inclement and unpleasant weather, I saw something in our neighbourhood I've never before observed: Our neighbours spoke to one another and to us! Michael helped Tim and Jill with their driveway yesterday so they could get their cars to the garage, and this afternoon I was able to help our new neighbour (NEW NEIGHBOURS!) Josh finish off his. I watched as Jill helped our across the street neighbour finish his drive, and marveled at the way this storm got us all out at the same time in a place where we could talk and laugh about the monumental task set before each of us.

After a few hours we're now all safe and warm and back inside where we should be, and according to the unplowed roads we'll be here for a good while yet.