Today I am tentatively dipping my toes into the twenty-first century. I am beginning a gardening blog.
It is the first dry, warmish day in awhile so I gathered the seed packets I chose from the many I received this year (one nice perk of being a member of the Garden Writers Association) and brought them and a soup spoon outside.
I have four EarthBoxes nestled in the sun beside the deck stairs. I stirred up the moist, cool soil and thought of Martha Stewart saying that good soil should look like chocolate cake. This soil does, it has been in the EarthBoxes for years, and I stir it up every spring. It's perfect for planting seeds. I chose Tyee spinach and Vulcan red lettuce from Sakata Seeds, and Wine Country Mesclun, one of Renee's Garden's Signature Salads.
These are all cut-and-come-again, my favorite way to harvest greens. It's fun to go outside on a spring evening and pick salad for dinner. I planted two rows in each EarthBox, four rows of spinach, three of the mesclun, and one of the red lettuce. I had decided to plant what I thought were radishes between the rows, then realized the seeds were actually beets, Touchstone Gold golden beet, also from Sakata. I'm glad they're beets instead of radishes because beet greens can also be harvested cut-and-come-again, and I love them. In the meantime, the beet roots will grow, and by the time I'm ready to re-plant the EarthBoxes with marigold seeds and the ivy geranium I've over-wintered for about four years (because they're hard to find), the beet roots will be ready to harvest.
I love beet roots too. If I were to choose my favorite vegetable without any outside influence ("But aren't tomatoes your favorite?"), it would be beets. I'd never had fresh beets before I joined a local CSA (Community Sustained Agriculture). Three years ago I noticed an "honesty" fruit and vegetable stand literally around the corner from home. They're all around here in Bucks County, PA, but not on Long Island, where I grew up. The first thing I bought from them was raspberries. From then on I bought a little of everything they offered. The only place I had had such delicious food was in southern Italy. Last year that farm joined CSA and I became a member. I'll rave about all the delicious fresh food as I get it. They start their weekly shares in May.
"Honesty" roadside stands were new to me. The homeowner puts a stand (usually an old table) at the end of their driveway. Each morning they put out their extra harvest, even if it's just a few tomatoes or sunflowers, and cards or a list with prices. They may offer bags or boxes for carrying, but they always have a coffee can, file box or other water resistant container for payment. My first reaction, being from Long Island, was "Won't everything on the table get stolen?"
I asked around, and was told it happens rarely, if ever. Sure enough, any time I "shopped" at an honesty roadside stand, there was money in the container. Once I even saw a thank you note for the farmer. I'm glad we moved here.
