An Invitation to the 2013 gardening season!

Dear Gardening Friends,

     What with one thing and another – its having been the hottest year on record, that made it impossible for us to be out in the sun after 9:15AM, and the arrival of a new dog (Champion Redbranch Mystic Druid) who consumed as much attention as we could give him - I managed to let last year get past me with just a single Toonmoose garden blog entry. It isn’t that there weren’t a host of activities and garden related experiences worth noting after April, which included our being invited to participate in the local garden tour for the first time. Lets just say that by the time we did all of those things, finding the energy to write about them eluded me.

     The surprise is that some of you actually missed those blog entries and were kind enough to tell me so. What is more, I missed the time I spent communicating with you, and sharing thoughts about our mutual passion – gardens. So, loath as I am to make resolutions, (they are so easily broken,) I do plan to resume reporting on all things garden related and hope that you will rejoin me for the “ride” during the 2013 growing season.  

     After all, one of the comforts of gardening is its’ cyclical nature. We may be “thrown off” by the vagaries of temperature changes from year to year, and I accept as credible, the premises of those who warn about “climate change.” Yet, as a Northeasterner in what is currently zone 6, I am relieved to think there will always be another Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter, with the particular garden pleasures attendant to each of these seasons.  So it is that I awaited the arrival of this years’ seed catalogues with all of the anticipation formerly reserved for Santa’s drop down the chimney. It is a delight to be preoccupied with which varieties of vegetables one will attempt to grow this year, fully aware that some will fail to produce, while others will succeed beyond ones wishes.  It is all a part of the magic and mystery of gardening!

     To get into the spirit of things, I am going to start some seeds indoors; beginning with one of my garden staples, Fish Peppers. They can be slow to germinate, taking up to three weeks to peak their heads above the soil, so all the more reason to give them a jump-start now. When they finally can be set out, in May after the last frost, they will be that much closer to producing fruit, to add the perfect sizzle to scrambled eggs and homemade hot sauce. How about you? What do you consider are your “must-have” garden plants, vegetables or flowers, organic or imaginary? “Inquiring minds want to know!”