I've been cooking like a crazy woman now that my healthier eating program is in full swing. Evidence!
My somewhat off-center banana-flax-Fiber One muffins. They were massively goey in the center, which I adored. And yes, I did eat the goofy, suggestive-looking one because I've got strong Food Martyr tendencies. Just following in my Mom's footsteps. ("Oh, you kids eat the nice ones. I'll eat the burned one that fell on the floor and looks like it's covered in scabs.")
Recently (and by 'recently' I mean probably a month ago) I discovered this chrysalis husk attached to one of my winterberry shrubs. A reminder that summer, with all its attendant butterflies and flowers, is not too far away. Isn't that a wonderful thought in the dead of winter?
I just placed my heirloom seed order with Seed Savers Exchange (spinach, lettuce, swiss chard, 2 kinds of tomatoes, peppers, 2 kinds of basil, sunflowers, and something new: ground cherries!). Because I only have space to grow my own herbs & veggies in containers, I'm also going to buy a half-share of produce from one of two local CSA programs (Olden Produce and Good Earth Farm). Right now, Olden Produce is winning, because they offer blueberries and peaches. (But Good Earth offers mushroom and honey shares. What to do, what to do!)
I'll start my seedlings indoors under lights in March and giggle and clap and jump up and down like a six year-old given a Daily Pony every time I see a tender new shoot push up through the soil. (Would you believe me if I told you I used to read my mother's gardening encyclopedias when I was home sick from school in my youth? Aww, I knew you would!)
Someday I will have acres of gardens and chickens and a pig named Sal who lives in a pigloo. And maybe a beehive, too. And a pond that is home to a bullfrog named Morty. You can all come and visit me!
If you're interested in buying a produce or meat share from a local CSA, find one near you here: http://www.localharvest.org/.
I love this time of year...winter is in full swing, but I get my gardening catalogs and it makes me forget for a nano second about winter.
ReplyDeleteI live vicariously through your gardening adventures, since it seems I can only kill plants instead of nourish them. :)
ReplyDeleteThree cheers for the CSA shares! It's the bestest thing in the world for diets, the land, the farm industry and communities.
ReplyDeleteIt's spring here, whether we like it or not. Or at least, it feels that way. And before you get all bitter and angry at me for our 65 - 70 degree weather and sunny skies, know that we in Sunny California could badly do with some rain, and this summer we'll probably be taking those crappy showers where you have to turn the water off in the middle while you soap up. And lots of fires this fall. Sigh. What I wouldn't give for some winter weather right about now...
ReplyDelete(actually, it's raining today, sort of, but it doesn't feel like enough, and this is our driest winter since 1920, they say. I have to believe them, since I wasn't alive yet in 1920.)
We're just getting ready to start our spring plants too. Although we are lucky enough to be able to grow year round. It's been awesome so far. My okra is flowering right now and I'm excited like it's christmas.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder that spring really will come. I needed it, since it's starting to feel like the Land of Continuous Winter. Oh, and your produce sounds wonderful. I'm not going to have a garden this year, and I already miss it. Want to share some of yours? Huh?
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