I’m ba-a-ack…Well we made it through Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and are nicely settled into 2011…very nice times of year, but not much time for blogging. Maybe I need to take a little look at my time management…whatever the excuse, I’m back in the saddle, fingers poised on the keys, ready to keep you all posted on my latest kitchen and garden adventures!
On that note, I have some very exciting news! There is a vacant lot, kitty-corner across the street from our house. It was all set to be developed into some townhomes when the economy went south. Needless to say, that put the whole thing on hold and there it sits. Well, as a gardener the lot spoke to me (screamed actually)… ‘come plant vegetables, there’s nothing but sun and space over here’. I am certainly not one to turn down a hollering field. 
And although I manage to cram a goodly amount of vegetables into the garden in my own yard, it’s actually a pretty small space. My mind reeled at the planting possibilities…more tomatoes, more peppers, eggplant, corn, heck I could even plant celeriac, beans, beets, and…ASPARAGUS! After a little research to make sure I wouldn’t be arrested once I laid spade to soil, the journey began…
First came the seed research…as I have mentioned before, seeds and seed catalogues are a weakness! I laid out a plan for a 20’x25’ plot. What an assortment! It’s like a mini farm! Then we went over and staked out the perfect spot. Back from the sidewalk and out of the way of any nearby trees. We will pull weeds and turn the soil in late February or early March. We learned there are some good micro organisms that flourish in the cool damp soil of winter and if they are damaged by turning the soil too early in the year, you will upset the 
soil balance. If this happens the soil will need to be amended - we don’t want to go there… Next my seeds arrived. I separated them between the ones that needed to be started inside in my sprouting tray and the ones to be direct seeded, dated them based on sprouting times and laid out my plan…My nieces were so excited about my big ‘farm’ plans that they even gave me some special socks to wear with my garden clogs when I work on the garden…now if that’s not inspiration I don’t know what is! You will surely be hearing lots about the baby farm project in the months to come, so fingers crossed, we’re off on a new adventure!
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