Victory!

Vermiculite & Fish Emulsion, Oh My!

Today, decidedly gloomy and raw, was a good day to run around and collect 'stuff' I'll be needing to expand my Edenification Project. Found a few bargains but was generally appalled at the cost of everything. Again, not a unique sensation for this impoverished old Yankee. But it's good to gather now so that I'll be poised to jump in headfirst at the first sign of bare ground (and, even though it's actually raining here at the moment I have my severe doubts it'll do much damage to the 3' of snow surrounding me, so, calmez-vous it'll be a while yet).
Tomorrow I go to a farm for mulch hay..that ought to be interesting and I'm still actively dreaming of a chicken condo..no progress on that front yet because I cannot bring myself to turn the tool shed that-used-to-be-a-chickencoop back into one.
This is always a tricky time of year in Vermont. What am I saying? It's tricky til June..late June.
Url the cat doesn't care, the nonchalant sprawling on his rug is inspirational.

sad little hoophouse

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in, forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day, you shall begin it well and serenely..." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"another day, another blue-green electric dollar"

you have to be really old to get that reference..
My attempts at keeping the seed shack from freezing solid seems to be working..actually tiny lettuce sprouts doing their thing. It is encouraging especially as the sun struggles to shine and the woodpile is akin to a cement block where the water trickled down and glued it together. Keeping the cats out of the indoor seed trays has been fun too..Clever cats, evil cats, fluffy cats.
Anyhoo, I find myself with an extra couple of bucks to spend on 'garden' stuff but instead of fun things I've already figured it'll all go to Agway on decidedly unfun but necessary stuff. However my eyes keep drifting to the catalogues. Another day, same addiction. Oh, hey, here comes the sun. Maybe it'll stay a few minutes.

The Seedy Shack

The tradition with gardeners it seems,(and rightly so), is to photograph seedling only when they actually appear so no photos yet. I can announce that inside I've begun in the most ramshackle-y manner my eggplant variety pack, the ornamental peppers, and some greens..Out in the unheated seed shack are about 30 cold weather items, winter sown, covered at night and yet to show signs of life which is ok as it's promising to be a brisk 5 degrees tonight. Wicked cold this February. BUT, the sun is shining aiding tremendously in my overall mental health. I have high hopes for March and I'll always take the sun under any circumstances, it's a precious commodity here for sure.
Meanwhile I slog away trying to 'plan' places for the 80 bazillion plants I'll have this year. Lots of new varieties, emphasis on the veggies. Lots of ordered seeds yet to arrive, lots of collected seed to be started. Yikes! Dare I say it, I'm excited!

get yourself up, dust yourself off..

and well, you know the rest old gal.
I've no idea if I'll actually keep at this bloggishness but it did occur that it'd be a terrific place to gather up some of my gardening blogs that're so randomly scattered throughout my bookmarks. Talk about weeding time. I've spent the better part of the last two weeks online, reading, ordering seeds,a quince tree, a new grape vine and on and on.
I've also been trying to find new garden blogs that I'd actually read and enjoy and have at least something in common with trying to grow here in Vermont. Happy to say I've found a few.
Ok, time to document, take notes and be pithy. Above all else, old sock, be pithy.