I Can See Soil Again

Whuf! A year went by, and I hardly noticed.

Last summer, our gardening largely fell off our roadmap as a close family member was diagnosed with cancer and then died in early September with merciful swiftness. Dealing with the estate ate our fall, and then came winter. Epic, mind-bogglingly terrible winter. Snow every day for days on end. Over 100 inches of snow. I'm still astonished that our greenhouse came through the snow unscathed. Mind you, good things did come out of this. The girls went showshoeing for the first time. I wrote a novel.

But today, on the final day of March, the sun is shining brightly, the thermometer reads 45 degF, and I can see the tops of the garden bed peeking out from beneath the snow at last.

Time to plant peas.

Wait. What???

Somehow, spring crept up on me. I think all the normal triggers that make me think of planting were buried deep under mountains of snow. But suddenly, last week, I saw the winter kale peeking out from all that white, and it hit me. I haven't ordered seeds. I haven't planned a blessed thing for this year.

To be fair, I can't blame it all on the weather. Over the last season, I came to realize that I'm just not physically capable of coping with a 2200 sq. ft. garden. I can't keep up with the seeding and planting and weeding and watering and harvesting. My body complains and breaks down on me. I spend days recovering. When we planned our garden, we were wildly optimistic and overambitious. Now, after three seasons, we know our limitations.

I sat down with my husband and planned out this year's garden in all of five minutes. We will plant in only fourteen beds, and we'll plant only our bare necessities: peas, broccoli, lettuce, kale, carrots, beets, cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, zucchini, bell peppers, basil, and summer squash. Of these, I'm only starting the broccoli, kale, and cukes in the greenhouse (currently rented out anyway). The rest, I'll direct seed or buy. Of course, we also have our perennial beds: raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, asparagus, herbs, and the amazing neverending arugula.

The rest of the beds are up for grabs. I'm sure our girls will snag one or two for flowers. The others will lie fallow or be cover cropped. If you live nearby, and you're interested in using a bed or two for yourself, let me know.