Gardening: Gotta Get Growing!

My gardening season starts in January. Yes - January - even though living in a zone 5 means that we are still in the middle of winter. January's the magic month when seed catalog start showing their hopeful faces in an otherwise dreary mailbox. I suppose you know you're a gardening-nerd when your leisure-time reward is snuggling into a comfy hair to read seed catalogs. 

Come February, I have my orders planned out and placed and wait in anticipation for the spoils of my seed-catalog-shopping-splurges to arrive. February is one of my favorite months because the days get noticeably longer, there's usually a thaw - during which I love getting out to prune my fruit trees - and my stockpile of seeds starts to grow. 

Then March comes and it's show time. Time to get growing. Time to hydrate peat pellets and get those seeds started. 

And for those of you that might claim you have no space to grow anything - I found the perfect little solution at my local home improvement store: narrow seed starting trays that hold 12 peat pellets. Perfect for getting a jump on a patio garden. In my case, they fill the gap between my large trays nicely (heaven forbid any space should be wasted). 

About this time I ask my intrepid spouse to till the garden. We both know it's probably too early, but he does it to humor me. This early tilling does help work in the layer of fall leaves we've piled on and allows the soils to dry out so that when he tills the following weekend, it's ideal for my early spring planting. 

So what exactly do I have planted? Here's my breakdown for indoors and outdoors thus far:

Outdoor (direct sow) 

Peas (little marvel and sugar snap)

Scallions (green onions from seed)

Spinach

Butterhead lettuce

Corn salad (this is new for me this year - if it's an epic fail, I'll resow that area with other salad greens.)

Indoors (on shelves that span a basement window with grow lights mounted)

Marigolds (seeds harvested from last year's flowers)

Zinnias (seeds from last year's flowers)

Herbs (loads of basil, some cilantro, etc)

Petite sweet peppers

Patio strawberries (not sure this will work - but the seed catalog suckered me in)

Amaranth (two kinds - love lies bleeding and a tall variegated)

Strawflower (seeds from last year's flowers)

Coleus (seeds from last year's plants - first time I've tried non-commercial coleus seeds so we'll see)

Trailing petunia (again - first time harvesting these seeds so I'll be curious to see how they work)

Cauliflower Veronica (spiky chartreuse kind)

Nemesia poetry mix (I'm always looking for shade flowers)

Awaiting their turn in a separate box are all sorts of pumpkins, squash and gourds. As for the rest, I'll be spending plenty at the nurseries in about 6 weeks. 

I always try to save a few unplanted seeds so that in a couple weeks I can go back and resow those pellets that haven't germinated. 

In the meantime, I'll be making daily visits to check on my indoor and outdoor gardens to watch for the first signs of life. Does a body and a spirit good!  So go on and get growing!  

Beekeeping: R.I.P. . . . again!

I've been anxious all winter to know how our hives have been weathering the winter. So last week, my husband and I went over to see if we could see evidence of life without disturbing the hives. Generally, in wintering hive you'll see a few dead bees outside the entrance - as they "bring out their dead" (anyone catch the movie reference?). Also, you can sometimes hear a slight hum if you put your ear against the side of the hive box. Well, sadly, there were no signs of life in any of our 3 1/2 hives. Oh My Lanta!!!  Not a happy thing. We assumed that the nuke (that's the 1/2 hive) wouldn't overwinter, but seriously!??! It's more than a bit discouraging. 

But, after venting our frustrations a bit, we ended up ordering 1 packet of Italians and 1 packet of Carniolans. We might try moving one hive to a different location to see if there is something extra harsh with their current location. As for the batch of hives in North Ogden, only one out of three of those hives shows signs of life. I suppose that once the weather warms up, my hubby can get a better idea of what happened as he cleans out the hive-carnage. Let's just say that beekeeping isn't for the faint of heart or weak of attitude. 😜🐝

Living the Dream (aka Best Laid Plans)

So, I was excited about our family home evening lesson this week. I'd prepared it the week before and thought it would be an inspirational and timely message for the fam. Ok, right there a red flag should go up. Not that I shouldn't be inspired when preparing FHE lessons, I just need to remember that my inspiration might not transfer to my kids during the lesson. It wasn't a hit. I found myself muttering under my breath through clenched teeth, "living the dream!" 

(The only trace that we had FHE was a fuller wastebasket.)

Ah well, at least I'm in good company. I love what Elser Bednar had to say about this recurring, yet frustrating issue:

"Sometimes Sister Bednar and I wondered if our efforts to do these spiritually essential things were worthwhile. Now and then verses of scripture were read amid outbursts such as “He’s touching me!” “Make him stop looking at me!” “Mom, he’s breathing my air!” Sincere prayers occasionally were interrupted with giggling and poking. And with active, rambunctious boys, family home evening lessons did not always produce high levels of edification. At times Sister Bednar and I were exasperated because the righteous habits we worked so hard to foster did not seem to yield immediately the spiritual results we wanted and expected."

He went on to say:

"Sister Bednar and I thought helping our sons understand the content of a particular lesson or a specific scripture was the ultimate outcome. But such a result does not occur each time we study or pray or learn together. The consistency of our intent and work was perhaps the greatest lesson--a lesson we did not fully appreciate at the time." https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/more-diligent-and-concerned-at-home?lang=eng

SOOO TRUE!!

I've decided that it's not just about teaching kids, or showing them consistency, but rather it's a test. Heavenly Father is waiting to see if we will continue to push against that rock that doesn't move by having weekly, less-than-edifying family nights and scripture study. 

Once I realized that family night isn't just about my family, it's about me demonstrating repeated commitment to the Lord, I can actually find success on Monday nights when everyone huffs out of the living room to "cool down" after FHE. 

And I'll be able to say, "living the dream" while shaking my head and smiling (albeit somewhat ruefully) instead of grinding down my teeth. That's a win!