Sunday, April 5, 2009

Sprung

Today's the first day of spring. I know what the calendar says, but nature's clock has other ideas. Today was so beautiful I could (and can still) taste it.

I spent this liminal afternoon putting together the first half of the garden beds. Who says print news is dead? From where I stand, it's positively writhing with worms.



Seriously, newsprint makes an awesome foundation mulch for a new garden bed. Covered with well-aged manure from a kindly neighbor, partially-composted leaves, and topsoil, it's ready to molder for a couple months until planting time begins in earnest. The new, ultra-rich soil will be planted with sweet corn, squash, and a metric ton of tomatoes. I'll use my older, shadier garden beds to plant root veggies and greens.

Compounding my planting mania, the ever-resourceful manfriend found us a free, jumbo-sized greenhouse frame. This year we'll have eggplant, peppers (hot and sweet), and (with any luck) maybe a gourd or two to add to the harvest. I haven't been this excited about spring in years. I see my planting options expanding, and I'm thoroughly tickled.

4 comments:

  1. Regarding the hot peppers, IMLOT, I'd like to taste test them to determine Scoville units if there's a position open for that.

    Eventually, the day will come when I have to give up hot peppers. But I figure I have a few good years left.

    BowlingJoe

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  2. Dood, yer aaaawn. Assuming I can pry said peppers from my son. He's as big a pepper/hot sauce fanatic as you, apparently. I promised him jalapenos. Personally, I want to grow anchos for roasting (and maybe smoking...I love smoked peppers).

    I need to stop talking about this. It's making me drool (more than usual).

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  3. I'm definitely a fan of the hot stuff, but I also roast a fair amount of anaheims and poblanos on the gas grill. The smell is absolutely addicting. They usually end up going into a pork chile verde or into a molcajete (the "cob of cookware") to make salsa.

    I blogged on the topic of spicy foods last year if you want to check it out:

    http://bowlingjoe.blogspot.com/2008/08/ring-of-fire.html

    Also, late in the season there's a pepper grower (out of Monroe I belive) that sells some great anaheims (or a variation of them) at the Sunday Everett Farmer's Market.

    Sorry for rambling....I love this topic.

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  4. I appreciate long rambles about random stuff about which people are passionate. I'm personally passionate about more things than I can shake a stick at. Including stick shaking.

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