White Christmas and Spring Planting

Wow!  Its been a heck of a day here in central Oklahoma.  Lots and lots of snow – well, at least 5 or so inches, a lot for us – and blizzard winds.  Here’s my front porch.

I’m SO glad our son made it home from Norman last night before the sleet started.  It would be awful for him to be stuck down there by himself for Christmas!  We had to cancel the trip to Texas but its nice to be home with a fire in the fireplace, grilled cheese and hot cocoa. 

 

We’re so entrenched in winter here right now, but what did I find on the coffee table?  A seed catalog I got a couple of weeks ago and haven’t had a chance to look at yet.  My raised beds may be full of snow right now, but there is a seed budding deep in my spirit.  A need to start planning for next summer’s vegetable garden. 

I’ve missed looking out my kitchen window and seeing food growing.  I have been thinking back to my first adventure in sustainable gardening and have to admit I made some mistakes.  I learned that I don’t need to plant 4 square feet of lettuce for just me and my husband!  I learned that squash needs a bed of its own.  I learned that okra needs to be planted earlier.  I learned not to plant tomatoes in black plastic pots.   I learned that I need to plant a LOT more purple hull peas if I actually want to harvest enough to eat.  

There are things I wish I had planted last year that I didn’t and will definitely plant this year – bell peppers and maybe some chile peppers.    I’m not ready for the heat of summer but I am ready for some fresh veges again. 

Something else we need to do is get that guttering in place so we can actually hook up the rain barrels we traveled 75 miles to buy because no place in this big huge city we live in sold them!  We also need to build a cover for the patio to shade the west sun that beats down on the house now that the old overgrown, out of control trees are down.  

But right now, the wind is blowing to beat the band, its cold as  (you fill in the blank), White Christmas is on TV, the fire is roaring and I think I need to sit down and look at that seed catalog!