A New Read, a New Vitamix, and Spring Gardening

Two mango pits went into a pot of soil and out in the sun this weekend. Aren’t they gorgeous?

Well, that was no fun. I went through a health crisis in late February and through March; nothing deadly, but a very painful and frustrating condition that required a surgeon’s attention. Today is March 14, and I’m just starting to really function again. There’s nothing like losing your health for a while to make you appreciate the little things. And I know more about my body now than I did before. Grateful to be past the worst of it.

Started reading The Snow Leopard, Peter Matthiessen’s account of his trip through the Himalayas. My husband and I also got a little light spring gardening work done. He tilled the food garden patch and put down some compost; I planted a long row of greens (various lettuces, spinach, arugula, dandelion, chard, Italian parsley) and a kale patch – all from Franchi seeds. I potted up some red and pink pansies at our home’s entrance, and took the leaf mulch off the garlic patch. There are some nice scapes coming up. I planted a large, long pot of parsley on the back deck. We also did some clean up in the shed. And I planted two mango pits. I’ll never stop trying for mango trees.

Good things often come of bad things. My amazing, beautiful, loving Mom felt so bad about my health that she gave me my birthday present 2 months early. A Vitamix! She included the optional grains container for processing dry foods like a boss. It has the spotlight on our kitchen counter. I’ve been poring over the literature; this is basically the only kitchen tool you’ll ever need. I feel like I won the lottery! I’m so blessed.

Today is cold and rainy, but we’ve had some incredible weather until now. It actually reached an impossible 81 degrees here one day last week. The days around it were all in the 70s and sunny. This is very unusual for early March, and I fear that the cool, wet weather is about the settle in for a while. There’s rain in the forecast all week, with temperatures in the 50s. Boo.

But I think that, like last year, we’re going to be able to plant the annual food garden earlier than usual. It would be amazing to have everything in the ground May 1. I do think that our Zone 6 status here in Connecticut is morphing into Zone 7. Which is all right with me. Summer can’t come soon enough.

 
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