The First Seed Order of 2017, and #Van Life
It’s
January 25th, and I’ve just placed the first Franchi
(seedsfromitaly.com) seed order of the growing season. Yes, it’s time to start
gathering seeds for the early spring greens. Depending on how long winter hangs
on, we could be planting rows of kale, lettuce, and arugula seeds in two
months. Woot!
Today
I ordered one pack of each:
· Cultivated
rucola (arugula)
· ‘Bolloso
Napoletano’ basil
· ‘Galega
de Folhas Lisas’ kale
· ‘Gigante
de Italia’ parsley
Franchi
seed packs are large. One pack of arugula and one of kale will bring in our
first and even second crops. The basil and parsley packs will probably feed us
for the summer.
I’ve
been buying Franchi seeds for a long time – close to 15 years now. I’ve never
found organic seeds with such a winning germination rate (nearly 100 percent). A
typical packet of organic Franchi herb or veggie seeds is about $4. Top quality
seeds, imported from Italy, and big packs of them. I recommend.
I’ve
been viewing a lot of vlogs on the van life movement. You’ve probably seen the hashtag
#vanlife a few times. I always get a thrill when I hear about people selling their
homes, quitting their jobs, and leaving it all to go live on the road. They
speak of the burden of home ownership and full-time jobs and the desire to find
a new way to live.
And
just when I thought that van life was the domain of millennials and
trustafarians. I find lots of stories about people at 30, 40, 50, and even 60
who have relinquished the rat race for free lives. There are the fantasy vlogs,
and there are the reality vlogs. Fantasy is sunsets on the beach or hiking a
mountain at sunrise. Reality is using and cleaning a compost toilet and running
out of gas in a desert.
The
fantasy is nice, but the reality is a better picture of life in a van. It
sounds challenging, a little scary, sometimes really difficult, and completely freeing.
So much so that yesterday, I started surfing online for a used VW van. Turns
out that a lot of other people are having the same fantasy as me, used vans are
becoming rare, and the prices are formidable.
Well,
I might not last very long in a van anyway. But it would be fun to rent an RV
and cross the country with the dogs. This idea appeals to my husband too. There
are two places on my bucket list: anywhere in Wyoming and Portland, Oregon. My
husband wants to see Montana. And despite the odds against it, I’m going to
keep the van life dream alive. I’m picturing an impossibly cool yellow or orange
VW with solar panels that runs like a boss.
Live
in peace.
