Those seeds we planted last month, watered every day, turned into starts beneath the lights in the back room. Meanwhile, day length grew an hour, from 11 hours 24 minutes to 12 and 32, inspiring all kinds of activity outside. It is nice to see the world come back to life. – March 25, 2019
PEPPERS
Our favorite pan pepper: Shishitos, introduced into our lives by Jason and Haruka, who called them “Beer Peppers” and taught us how to fry them in sesame oil and steam to a savory finish with soy sauce.
TOMATILLOS AND CHERRY TOMATOES
This year we’ll be growing Tomatillo Amaryllas for sauce and salsa, and Sun Gold Cherry Tomatoes, for snacking and salads.
THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING
Shaine gave us a big bag of purple sweet potatoes that she cultivated from potatoes she got off Haruka and Jason’s farm years ago. We pulled out a dozen, cut them in half and set them in water to sprout in the sun. We’ll plant them in April or May and start harvesting in August or September. We’ll be sure to save some back for planting next year.
SALAD DAYS
Overwintered “Freckles” lettuce that we planted last September, and Buttercrunch starts from the feed store planted this month. Lettuce is best grown in cool weather so these are our salad days. Although we think of summer as salad-eating time, summer sun makes lettuce bolt to seed, a bitter proposition at best. At worst, the plants wither and die in the heat.
KITCHEN GARDENS
Parsley, chives, and asparagus, right outside our back door.
POND GARDEN
Around the corner from the kitchen gardens, perky violets are dressing up the pond garden and the water iris is reaching for the sun.
PHLOX GARDEN
Fragrant phlox, covering twice the area it did last year, has been such a nice addition to the lilies, columbines, and hot poker plants, that we named this spot The Phlox Garden.
PEONIES AND GLADIOLUS
Promises of blooms to come.
A PAIR OF PEARS
Flowering fruit trees are the universal harbinger of spring. There are two kinds of pears in our sapling orchard: the North American with pear-shaped fruit that ripens in a series of maddening steps involving paper bags and refrigerators, and the Asians, with crispy, round fruit that ripens on the tree. I’ll bet you can guess which one we prefer.
FIG
Camille has her fingers crossed that this year will be a good one for the fig. Last year our fig tree didn’t produce squat because a mild winter with a late freeze encouraged and then killed both leaves and fruit. It seems to be holding back this year, which begs the question as to whether or not trees are sentient beings.
We are both reading The Overstory per Linda Watson’s recommendation, a novel about tree smarts and human folly. Richard Powers’ novel delivers plenty of food for thought.