There is something about February, especially late February, that is just...awful. The shortest month sure does seem to go on forever, doesn't it? And while March in Northeast Ohio is no picnic, there's a lot to be said for turning the calendar page to the month where spring does officially start. With that comes the hope that, okay, maybe I will not be wearing a down parka every day this month. Maybe this month I won't regularly get caught in blizzards while on the way to work (although it is actually quite possible this will still happen). Maybe my car will look its actual color, rather than chalky salty gray. And maybe, just maybe... I will plant something!
To kick off the return to blogging, and the return to gardening, I'd like to share my to-do list for this month:
1. Attend gardening class. This, my friends, is awesome. A series of 5 workshops entitled "Home Grown Food," hosted by one of the local public libraries. Week 1 was 90 minutes on just soil, and I was captivated. You don't know what you don't know until someone tells you that you don't know it. This is doing to be a valuable endeavor, and I look forward to sharing. If you are local and interested, it looks like there are still some openings.
2. Compost. Compost. Compost. I'm working on my own (more on that in a future post) but this year we probably need to buy some. Can you believe we've never added this to our garden? Anyway, I am hoping to buy and spread that this month (a girl goes to one class about soil and now wants to buy a truckload of rotten stuff... go figure).
3. Peas! My new favorite vegetable to grow. And along with the purchase and planting of pea seeds, I need to get some better stakes, now that I know how these things grow!
4. Greens! My new second favorite vegetable to grow. Kale, spinach, lettuce, swiss chard... they can all be started early, and I am excited to do so.
5. Investigate some organic (aka "safe") pest control options. Especially if I want to grow leafy things (and I do), I need to better protect them. The hot pepper spray did not cut it last year. I look forward to learning about this in my class, and also seeing what the garden stores offer.
Hey Jen, it's Angela. Do you know if your city or a local one provides free compost? I found out last summer that mine does and all I had to do was shovel and haul it myself from the recycling center. If not yours, perhaps another town close by that doesn't check ID?
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