It was -15 degrees F when we woke up this morning. Snow covers the Earth which, for the first time in awhile, truly seems to be taking a winter nap. When I look out at my patio, which was inhabited by so many plants just a few short months ago, I see a different kind of activity – a few potted trees sleeping, dunes of snow, and wee birds eating seed. The other day I looked through some photos of the past year’s garden and my goodness, it was so green! I found myself daydreaming about this year’s garden. The seed catalogs bombarding me in the mail only encourage me!
Today I decided to order some seeds. I favored vegetables that are known to do well in containers. A few will be experiments. So far, I’ve ordered:
- Igloo cauliflower
- Alibi cucumbers
- White fingers eggplants
- Tan-Tan lettuce (a German variety that produces wee heads)
- Mohawk pepper
- Bush delicata squash
- Green tigers courgette
- Tumbling Tom red tomatos
- Carouby de Maussane pea (a type of snow pea)
- Oakleaf lettuce (a personally favorite of mine due to the shape)
- Woad (something I’ve always wanted to try growing)
I also ordered a book about kitchen-related sewing projects. It was on sale and too good to pass up.
I have some other seeds that I had leftover from last year or saved through drying – beans, radishes, and some squash. I want to order a few other things like mugwart, wormwood, bee balm (Oneida tea), and such but will need to turn to a different supplier. Along with an assortment of container veggies, I want to explore more herbs. I’ve already been growing the standards – lavender, lemonbalm, chives, etc. As my experience in the garden and in spellwork increases, maybe one day I’ll grow and work with such lovelies as foxglove, belladonna, and mandrake. I also hope to have a house and land by then so I can better keep such dangerous plants away from inquisitive neighborhood kids. At the moment, I can’t put up fences and gates.
Another gardening goal for the year? Get some dwarf trees. My father has ordered me an early “Spring Equinox gift,” as he put it – a dwarf tea bush! I look forward to working with the tea plant and learning how to make my very own tea blends. I also want to obtain a dwarf lemon, lime, and orange tree. My patio and surrounding garden beds will become crowded with beautiful green again before I know it!
Author M. A. Phillips 
Sounds spectacular. I can hardly wait to hear how to wode works out. Beware though. I heard somewhere that there is a scent when you use it.
Thanks for the caution. I’ve read that it can have a sulfurous quality but I guess I’ll find out! I’m mostly interested in it for dyes but it does have some herbal applications!
The catalogs have been arriving here too – the planning begins! The dwarf tea plant sounds interesting…I’ll have to look into that.
I, too, am getting ready for spring planting! It’s the BEST time of year 🙂 You mustmustmust post pics of the dwarf tea tree.. trees are my favourite. I’m trying a dwarf pomegranate tree from seed this spring, to go along with my avocado and lemon trees I started last fall. ((avocado couldn’t work out better from pit, in case you wanted to try it!))