Let the garden experiment commence

Yesterday, I started some seeds for planting in the garden between the beginning and end of May.  In theory, mid-April is a good time for planting as we should be at the end of "last frost of the season," but quite often we get one or two freezing nights afterward.  The sun was beautiful and warm--a great day to be outside.

I started six each of the following:

Crnkovic Yugoslavian--pink tomato
Black from Tula--purple tomato
Goldman's Italian American--red tomato
Ananas Noire--striped tomato
Quadrato D'Asti Rosso--red bell pepper
Red Cheese Pepper--red bell pepper

I started eight of each of the following:

Black Hungarian Pepper--hot pepper
Leutschauer Paprika--hot pepper
Tendercrisp--celery  **I planted 8 starter pots of this with two or three seeds in each.  Seeds are itty bitty and I thought it better to be safe than sorry.

I started six of the following:

Delikatesse--cucumber
Eagle Pass--okra

I also directly sowed about 48 French Breakfast Radish seeds in a long planter.  We will continually plant and pick these so I wanted something simple and close to the back door for easy pick/eat salad toppings.

Today it is misty and rainy so there isn't much gardening happening outside.  Inside I am soaking my beans for a few hours before I pot them [Mayflower Pole Bean, Cherokee Trail of Tears Pole Bean, and Purple Podded Pole Bean].  I will also pot the Musquee de Provence Winter Squash seeds as well.

This weekend looks like the date for popping the Bull's Blood Beets, St. Valery Carrots, and Rocky Top Lettuce Mix in the ground.  I'll also pop in the Tall Telephone Peas as they can handle the cooler weather.  I just have to set up the trellis first.  They can grow to 8 feet!  I might try them against the back fence as well to see if they will respond to the area.

I wanted to grow watermelon, but I figured with the squash being so sprawly, I'd tackle them first and see how it goes.  If I can wrangle them easily, then I'll add watermelon to the list next year.

I ordered my seeds through Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds this year.  The prices for everything we ordered was very reasonable.  We even got a gift packet of Parisienne Carrots!

For flowers, we ended up with 2 pansies (Orange Sun, Laura), cosmos (Sensation Mix), multicolored pinks (Baby Doll Dianthus), Hazelwood Blues Morning Glory (a mix of light to dark blue flowers) to put over the mailbox and along parts of the fence, Radio Calendula, and French marigolds (Harlequin).

Experiment

I'm terrible at consistency.

I can be punctual.  I can be bloody pig-headed about having things my way.  But, following a mundane routine is just not part of this body's makeup.  Anathema.

Do I feel that following a particular schedule or to-do list will help me be a better person?  Maybe.  I hear that consistency is required in the raising of children.  I had boundaries and bedtimes and curfews and acceptable friends and acceptable social engagements.  Perhaps that is why I now despise these things--my personal rebellion.

This little revolution has gone on long enough.  I am becoming unproductive with such a loosey-goosey meandering through a day.

So the experiment that will follow is a tiny bit scary as it steps outside my norm.

Ok.  Not so much with the science.  But I am going to attempt to develop a daily routine in hopes that I can become a more productive writer, teacher, and person.

Put on the goggles and buckle up.  It's going to be a bumpy ride...

One of those days

I'm having one of those days where I feel pulled in a zillion directions.  I hate this feeling.  What do I want, you ask?

1)  Sunlight.  Although it isn't sunny today, I am noticing the light.  I don't know if it is considered a wavelength?--but the strength of the light.  It isn't as weak as it is during the winter.  We're on the cusp of the spring thaw.  The sun is also coming up earlier.

2)  Moon.  Full.  Enough said.

3)  Outside.  I want to go for a walk but I have a million things to do that require my attention.  Also, it is muddy slush with ice patches on the road.  Still not the greatest walking conditions.

4)  Grading.  Ok.  Well I don't really feel pulled to do this except the deadline is tonight for grades and I should just suck it up and finish.  I suppose complaining takes more time than actually doing...

5)  Writing.  I just put together another piece of my puzzle yesterday and now I'm wanting to write but I won't until I get this stupid grading done.  I do enjoy death scenes.  Does that make me perverse?

6)  Reading.  I'm sucked into Patrick Rothfuss' book The Name of the Wind.  I am enjoying the voice and the structure of the story.


Moon Report:  100% of full.  Full moon.
Outside:  Soggy snow and mud.

Lucille Clifton

I totally suck as a person with both an English BA and an MFA!  How could I possibly miss the death of Lucille Clifton??  She died last Saturday (February 13th, 2010).

The poetry of Lucille Clifton is not overwhelming; it does not beat the reader down.  There is a quiet power and deep love in her work.  It is a weird analogy but her patterns always remind me of water ripples--the reverberations feeding out from the central point until they touch the edges of our outer self.  It brings comfort and transformation.

Links 

Sorrows.
Won't You Celebrate With Me. [video]
Remembering Lucille Clifton.  [Poetry Off the Shelf]
Far Memory.

Vaccu-suck and share

Ok.  Last week I had one of those vaccu-suck experiences on the web.  I was innocently clicking on links I visit regularly--and wham--I was following links from blog to blog and site to site reading all kinds of wild and fun things.  So I thought I'd share a few...

1)  Whatever.  John Scalzi.  There are lots of great links and lovely introductions for new books.  Also he declared February 15th to be International Grover Appreciation Day.  Really--I swear!  Anyone who loves Grover is A-OK in my book.

2)  Blake Charlton.  New writer with a his first novel coming out on March 2 [Spellwright].  Med student.  All-around multi-tasking genius.  His blog is excellent--well written, intelligent, and funny.  If there's ever a remake of West Side Story featuring internists and surgeons...or maybe you need a sympathetic soul after witnessing a talking pile of laundry...

3)  Making Light.  Theresa and Patrick Nielsen Hayden.  I don't even know where to begin.  Let me start by saying I've never seen so many links to everywhere and everything in my life! I enjoy the commentary...

4)  Seven Stories Concerning Joss Whedon -or- The Road to Damascus.  Posted January 11, 2010 on Patrick Rothfuss' blog.  Actually he's pretty amusing on the whole.  See the post on how to determine his "cool factor" on the Gaiman-Day rating scale...


Moon Report:  20% of full.  Waxing crescent.
Outside:  Sunny.  Icy crust snow--very sharp on bare ankles.