Settling Into January

Edward has found the old chair in the sunny space we call the 'dressing room.'

Monday's photo of the amaryllis--I forgot to take one today.

The salmon/orange color is a surprise--I thought it was meant to be more pink and white.

When I opened our mailbox yesterday it was stuffed with seed and nursery catalogs.

Before December ended we had received several--the old stand-bys--Guerney's and Shumway, a few that cater to market growers, a greenhouse supply catalog.

Guerney's and Shumway are deliberately printed in a vintage news-print format.

I've never ordered much from either--they tend toward oddities and some older seed varieties with testimonials of astonishing yields.

I find it interesting that seed companies still bother with the expense of mailing out paper catalogs.

I have ordered the bulk of my seeds online for more than a decade.

I may browse my favorite of the seed suppliers, marking varieties I would like to try, then using the catalog to help place an online order.

My late MIL ordered many of her seeds, especially flowers, from Park Seed Company.

I followed her practice although Park's seed pkts were often more expensive than others.

The seeds were of high quality,  packaged in tightly sealed foil wrappers, often with tiny seeds encased in a thin envelope inside.

Harris Seeds was a favorite supplier of vegetable seeds, as they specialize in varieties that performed well in our former New England seasons.

I received my first catalog from Select Seeds during one of our final seasons in Vermont.

The focus of this grower is old-fashioned flowers--those which can be hard to locate from other sources.  Some of the loveliest plants left behind in Vermont years ago--and in my ill-fated Gradyville garden--were those carefully nurtured from this company.

I am not ready yet to begin a list of seeds and plants for 2016.

I feel strongly that our gardening efforts need to be scaled back to a more manageable lay-out.

Growing good tomatoes here has been a challenge, disappointing in results.

I think I'm over potting up dozens of tomato seedlings when we have several good sources in the nearby Mennonite garden centers.

We need to consider how much a household of two can consume in fresh produce as well as how much is reasonable to 'put up.'

The kicker is always our insistence that home-grown is healthier than veg and fruit raised to commercial standards.

We have mentioned cultivating blackberries again--perhaps this time we would opt for the thornless  variety after battling bristling canes for the fruit in our Gradyville garden.

We long for a small greenhouse to extend the season.

I crave raised beds to spare my creaky bones.

Hopefully our time and energies will be freer this summer to devote to gardening.

Meanwhile, January has brought us night time temps below freezing and mornings sparkling with sunshine on frost. 

I am inspired to create 'comfort food'--soups that can simmer on the wood stove, muffins plump with blueberries from the freezer, baked potatoes. 

After the rush of house renovation, the bustle of guests, a slower pace is welcome.