Truly Madly Spring

Let the games begin! What a beautiful day. It was just too gorgeous to be inside so I took a break from the keyboard and attacked the garden in an attempt to get the onions in. The Field Supervisor was on the job taking stock of my spacing. I think it's time to build a dibbler. It would really ease the process.

As it was I only managed to plant the shallots and red onions before total exhaustion took over. I've had some medical challenges this year and I'm not quite up to snuff in the stamina department. I've yet to get the Spanish onions and scallions in the ground. But in the process I dug up these two quite robust shallots (in foreground) which gave off a very oniony aroma. I suppose you could say it's the first harvest of the season.

Along with these two little carrots and a scallion that were hiding in the soil too.

Crop rotation is on the agenda this season in order to get the most bang for my soil buck. Carleen Madigan suggests planting onions after tomatoes and that's exactly what I am doing.

S510 Food Safety Modernization Act

The Senate has passed the S510 bill. If you don't know how this will impact your CSA, local farmer's market or organic and raw food producer then start googling S510 my friends. Never was it more important to plant a victory garden.

A great book to get your victory garden going is Carleen Madigan's "Back Garden Self-Sufficiency." I highly recommend this manual (again). It's in my personal library and I refer to it often. I was reading Madigan's chapter on chicken keeping last night (a goal of mine impeded only by current city ordinances outlawing it) and was struck by something that I had never considered before. Allergies. Madigan raises the issue and I choked on my enthusiasm for the first time. Yes, unfortunately I'm allergic to chicken feathers, so chicken keeping may not be the total joy I am imagining, but I'm not ruling out the option. I still dream of strolling into my own yard to pluck fresh eggs from a coop every morning.

Meanwhile I must content myself with my meager indoor winter garden that is plodding along under the grow lights. Below, the lettuce continues to sprout.

Beets are doing well.

The strawberries are content.

And to my surprise the grape vines have begun to bud and leaf.

My hope is to at least get enough Mesclun lettuce to keep us in fresh homegrown salads for the cold months.

Which brings me to Christmas shopping. I've started to think about gifting indoor garden sets like the Aerogarden hydroponic unit for my soil phobic peeps. The crusade continues...