I’m not sure what went wrong, if anything. Maybe I’m short on patience. Maybe this is how the cookie crumbles. But I don’t have nearly the number of pea seedlings emerging as I should. Of the three rows of spinach I seeded back in February, there are 2 little plants. It’s been so warm this spring, I figured for sure I’d have better results than this. Maybe I didn’t water them enough, forgetting that all this warm weather meant it wasn’t raining. In the p-patch, there seem to be only two asparagus crowns left. I can’t find signs of the …

It’s time to finish off the kale. To that end, I harvested all that remained in the garden Tuesday afternoon, filling two plastic produce bags. Half of that was converted into Kale & Roasted Red Pepper Quiche on Wednesday: We’re down to our last jar of roasted red peppers. And I can see part of the bottom of the freezer in the garage. There some carrots and broccoli, zucchini and pasta sause left out there, but mostly it’s green beans and flour and berries. But, it’s the beginning of April, and our farmers’ market starts back up at the end …

I spent three hours at the p-patch this weekend, doing community garden weeding (weeding in places that aren’t in my plot). There have been a couple plots that have been neglected for a year or more, and these needed to be cleaned up so that they could be reassigned to new (hopefully better, more involved) gardeners. The other factor is the enormous pile of compost that our p-patch received this year. It’s all got to get up to the various plots before it gets in the way of the Habitat for Humanity people who have generously let up take up …

A few more days of sun, and the peas are germinating! Caitlyn, of course, is taking this as a sign that she doesn’t need to wear a jacket anymore. This morning, as we were leaving for school, she insisted, “But it’s not freezing!” Well, yes, but it’s also not 70 degrees out, yet. Mama’s going to insist on a jacket for a few more weeks, I think. The seed potatoes have arrived. This is their “before” portrait. I’ll take an after picture before I plant them… The onion seeds have germinated, as well. Now I have to decide how long …

I try to avoid impulse buys. Usually the stuff around a cashier station is just junk, except for all the chocolate you can pick up in the checkout lanes at the Seward Park PCC. And shopping at my local Lowe’s tends to me make me cranky enough that I refuse to buy extra stuff at the registers as a matter of principle; they made everything I was looking for so hard to find, why should I buy this just because it’s here? But it’s spring. They’ve rearranged things to put the vegetable gardening stuff up front (or at least on …

I always seem to forget how pleasant mornings can be. Clear sky, the sun creeping slowly down the south side of the house and around the garage. Birdsong and crow conversations. The occasional neighbor, with and without dog. The train dinging it’s way down MLK. It’s peaceful in a way that the afternoons are not. I generally like all the kids running through our neighborhood, and I’m grateful to live in a place where they can get out and play. But sometimes it’s nice to have the quiet. Hopefully, Caitlyn will forgive me for not having enough gardening tasks for …