Climbing out of the Deep Freeze

At long last, we are experiencing "normal" winter weather with temperature in the teens instead of in the negative teens and twenties as it was last week. Of course other areas of the country in the north had it even worse than we did, which I can barely imagine. Everything is so complicated when the temperature drops so low and the wind picks up. Cars don't start, schools are delayed and activities cancelled, and outside pets and livestock need extra care. I am happy to say we survived the deep freeze pretty well except for some not entirely unexpected car problems.

To help me focus more on the upcoming spring and less on the present cold weather, another one of my favorite garden catalogs arrived, Johnny's Selected Seeds (johnnyseeds.com). Johnny's caters to the market gardener, but welcomes home gardeners as well. One of the best things about the Johnny's catalog is the detailed growing information they provide for everything they sell. Information on plant culture, diseases, insect pests, ripeness and storage are included, eliminating a lot of the guess work when trying something new in the garden. Johnny's also has a good selection of the latest hybrid varieties as well as open pollinated and organic seeds. If you are looking for it, they probably have it. I also enjoy their selection of garden tools and supplies. Theirs is truly a catalog that you can sit and read cover to cover.

My seed order from Pinetree Seeds also arrived in the mail this past week. All of the seeds in this order will be direct seeded, but receiving them did get me to thinking about starting some seeds inside in a few more weeks. I was a little disappointed to see that my order Indy Gold beans was substituted with a different variety, Gold Crop, but I am anxious to try them all the same.

Thank goodness for these little reminders of spring that keep me going as we climb out of this deep freeze and think ahead to greener and warmer days.