The Beginnings of a beginning

I finally got around to starting some of my seeds. It's been two weeks since I first planned on starting them, but somehow (always somehow) I managed not to do what I wanted to. So, I have the beginnings of a vegetable garden-onions, leeks and tomatoes. I'm not doing as much variety as I want to this year, just trying to keep things basic. However, I cannot buy boring (normal) varieties, especially when there's so many interesting ones to choose from. So I've planted Paul Robeson tomatoes, Cipollini Onions and Bleu de Solaize Leeks. In many ways, I'd much rather have planted purple tomatoes, and red onions, and all sorts of exotic varieties, but I'm not sure that anyone else would eat them!

While I was planting the seeds, I started dreaming about later this year, when I can start saving seeds. I'm learning more and more about how to select and save seeds-for suitability to my climate, robustness, fruitfulness and so many other qualities. I've been reading this book called Botany for Gardeners, which is an amazing book, and I absolutely love it. It starts at the basics-cell structure, plant structure, growth and all that, and then moves on to reproduction and adaptation. The next chapter that I haven't read yet is called Strategies for Inheritance. It should be a good help in understanding how to be the manipulator in my own little microcosm of natural selection.

Oh, and I also started some Echinacea, because life's really not complete without flowers!

Bare Branches

I love the way the smell and feel of outdoors lingers even after you've been inside for awhile. It seems to pervade the entire house with its presence, wrapping green tendrils around lamps and couches, covering the carpet with loam. Somehow, it makes everything happier and lighter. I'm realizing more and more how much I love plants and all things that grow.

I pruned out all the dead canes of raspberries today, and now the rows stand tall and erect-like a garden should be. I love chaos and disorder, but a garden should be a place where nature has a little bit of help, at least a vegetable garden! Flower gardens are another matter. They should run wild and rampant and the plants should tumble over each other with joy. I've already seen the first tips of green pushing through the soil, and very soon, (but never soon enough) the gardens here at the house will start to bloom with the first crocuses and daffodils. I heard ducks back at the pond today, so spring is coming! I can't wait for it get here.

A note about links

Places to go and things to do. We all have them. Mine are conveniently located to the right side of this screen. I would recommend taking a look at them, especially the Free Rice site. It's a vocab-building, hunger reducing sort of site.

Notcot is a design/ideas/interesting things site, where I can easily waste a lot of time looking at beautiful things, and some very weird things. Relevant Magazine is a Christian publication geared toward idealistic young people who want to make a difference in the world, and enjoy life along the way. Flaming Waters is the blog of my cousin Ryan who is currently working in Malawi, along with his family.

Marine Reach is the site of organization that I worked for while I was on the boat. Stop the Traffik is the site of an organization aiming to do just that-stop human traffiking. Narnia Web follows the news of the making of the Narnia movies, and has a thriving community of Narnia and CS Lewis fans. Save the Words is just plain interesting-thanks to Teal for that link! and Manchester Community Church need I say more? Well, the guy opening the door in the photograph is my dad! :D