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Thursday, January 5, 2012

January Garden

January is a slow month in the garden itself, but we have more than welcomed the regular additions of backyard kale, carrots, and occasional greens to our winter diet.


Even though the growing is slow, there is still a lot to do inside and outside.  I'm in the process of trimming back my gangly grape vines and cleaning up garden beds with skeletons of summer plants when the soil thaws enough for me to do so.  Its good to have reasons to get outside in the sunshine even if it is cold.

Our spirits are pretty good considering that it has been a dry, snowless winter so far.  This month we will get into the work of planning for the spring and summer and the fun of thumbing through garden catalogs.  I'm going to continue to work on crop rotation this year and am excited to see what new things we can grow along with our old favorites.
Happy 2012.

Winter, finally (and seriously)

I planned to start this blog last spring as my garden flew into action, but then got into the actual work of gardening and abandoned the task. However, today its winter, really winter. I'm wearing long underwear and sitting under a blanket and I'm still cold.
Today is the shortest day of the year so from here on in it gets better. I look forward to longer days, that's for sure. But I'll also tuck in and enjoy winter's freeze and snow, it does mean skiing after all. Maybe more importantly is the snow pack - without snow there isn't water for the West.
The end of the year and the solstice are a good time to think back on the last 365. I have no reason to complain and feel really lucky about the last year and really hopeful about the year to come.