Waiting for the green.

Ruby Mtns. 02/2011

I really enjoy March.  Decorating the house in green clovers is always delightful when the landscape alternates between brown mud and white snow.  March is always invigorating to me as winter tries to hang on in fits and spurts while spring stealthily and steadily creeps in. I love seeing my daffodils, grape hyacinth, crocuses, and tulips poke tentative sprouts from the icy/muddy ground.   March is also a time for serious garden and landscape planning.  Due to some timely introspection I have realized that above anything else I seem to love researching and making plans.  The plans I make are rarely adhered to but that just means I get to concoct more plans and do more research; and so the addictive cycle continues.  This March will be unusually full of plans as our little family prepares to move to Alaska this summer!!  I am an internet research junkie and now likely have more information on Palmer, AK than their own Chamber of Commerce.  Back to landscaping, even with one foot out the door my hankering to lay out my garden is undeniable. My practical approach this year will be to use up ALL my extra seed packets I have accumulated and try to plant them so that everything will be happy with its neighbors and receive adequate sunlight. Can it be done in the midst of fixing up our house to sell it? You betcha! Are you trying to plant a garden this spring? I would love to trade information on tips and tricks-of-the-trade.

2009 garden, Nevada sun hurts the eyes.

I am greatly looking forward to future gardening adventures in Palmer, AK. Did you know that many of the Guinness Book of World Record mega vegetables are grown in the Matenuska River Valley in USDA growing zone 4?!?! That's the same growing zone we have here in Spring Creek, NV or Bozeman, MT and our veggies have certainly been delicious but certainly not giant. It appears that 19 hours of sunlight give growing things a boost up north. Once I successfully grow a 20lb carrot or 100lb cabbage I promise to post pictures of it. Just imagine eating your body weight in cabbage...then again, maybe you shouldn't. Did I mention berries? Our family is especially keen on wild berries and past experience trekking in Alaska indicates that Alaskan berries will certainly fill our currant Nevada void (did I mention I love puns?). Friends and family should start signing up now for their Alaskan-Neuffer goods such as smoked salmon, moose burger, berry preserves, and barrels of pickled cabbage. That's all for now, so until next time, get outside and love the life you are in!