Jan. 1st, 2006
cleany day; garden dreams
Jan. 1st, 2006 04:02 pmmr. flea's burst of energy has continued with the packing and relegation to the basement of several boxes of old notes and books, freeing up muich-needed shelf space in the study. He even threw a lot of old paper away! Granted, much of it concerned his 1993-1994 job searches... it's a start!
For myself, I cleaned the top of the fridge, threw out old moldering food in the fridge (but didn't yet actually wash the shelves), and went through the pantry. I did the most work in the spice department - filling half-empty bottles from innumerable little bags of things, mostly unlabeled. I had a close call when I nearly put marjoram in the oregano jar, but caught myself. (Note: buy more oregano. It is the thing we run out of most.) This is after yesterday's filing and paper purging in the study.
I really like cleaning and de-crapifying. It makes me feel good.
ION, it's the kind of sunny 65 degree January first we seem to get every year, which sets the mind to dreams of summer gardening. The 2006 Johnny's seed catalog came Dec. 23 and I spent all of Casper's nap reading over it. My super-fantastic shell pea, Dakota, has been replaced by something they SAY is even better, but I am suspicious and heartbroken.
It is the time of year when I have good intentions and plan to acquire 6 bags of cow manure and dig them into the beds before February, and prune things (we did buy a pruning saw two days ago - now I just need a ladder and to actually follow through - in this positive vein I unearthed my "when to prune things in North Caroina" sheet from the extension people, and reminded myself that February is just about ideal for anything that isn't spring-blooming.)
I also want to deep-dig a small corner for carrots and beets. The carrots I planted in a big big pot did quite well, where usually carrots are sad for me.
The real challenge is to water sufficiently and plant early enough. Last frost date is April 15 so peas and spinach and hardy lettuces can go in the ground then, and even most tender things should be in by the end of April.
For myself, I cleaned the top of the fridge, threw out old moldering food in the fridge (but didn't yet actually wash the shelves), and went through the pantry. I did the most work in the spice department - filling half-empty bottles from innumerable little bags of things, mostly unlabeled. I had a close call when I nearly put marjoram in the oregano jar, but caught myself. (Note: buy more oregano. It is the thing we run out of most.) This is after yesterday's filing and paper purging in the study.
I really like cleaning and de-crapifying. It makes me feel good.
ION, it's the kind of sunny 65 degree January first we seem to get every year, which sets the mind to dreams of summer gardening. The 2006 Johnny's seed catalog came Dec. 23 and I spent all of Casper's nap reading over it. My super-fantastic shell pea, Dakota, has been replaced by something they SAY is even better, but I am suspicious and heartbroken.
It is the time of year when I have good intentions and plan to acquire 6 bags of cow manure and dig them into the beds before February, and prune things (we did buy a pruning saw two days ago - now I just need a ladder and to actually follow through - in this positive vein I unearthed my "when to prune things in North Caroina" sheet from the extension people, and reminded myself that February is just about ideal for anything that isn't spring-blooming.)
I also want to deep-dig a small corner for carrots and beets. The carrots I planted in a big big pot did quite well, where usually carrots are sad for me.
The real challenge is to water sufficiently and plant early enough. Last frost date is April 15 so peas and spinach and hardy lettuces can go in the ground then, and even most tender things should be in by the end of April.