March Madness over SEEDS!!!!

My first bulbs produced flowers today (March 1st)! I can seriously stare out my front window for hours - day dreaming of how beautiful the beds will be when they're in full bloom. I even picture text messaged some of my friends to show them my first blooms :). Looking out my window right now I can see a hint of yellow at the tips of many of my daffodil sprouts. It's very exciting! Even though it seems I have already had a lot of success in my garden, I want more!! My husband and I have almost an acre of flat land and I've said before it is like a blank canvas. The previous homeowner had llamas and so the land was used mainly as a pasture. Well, we're not really farm-animal people, so I want to make our yard a fabulous retreat.

view in front off of porch

I watched a video today that I bought at a local store in Petaluma and it is called nourish and it's about food + community. My sister is big into the slow food movement and I too would like to become a locavore (a person that eats mainly locally grown food). This school year I taught a unit about the food pyramid and food production, we touch on transportation, processing and distribution. It's amazing how little young children know about what they're actually eating. Even adults often don't know about their own food! Anyhow, I can open a whole can of worms going in that direction, so I'll try to focus on my next topic... this video. In the end of the video they talk about what the word NOURISH and what it actually means to them and I started thinking about what it means to me (of course I cheated a bit and looked up synonyms and the definition). The synonyms my computer came up with are - FEED, ENCOURAGE, and CHERISH. I decided that these were going to be the words to paint the picture of my garden. I want to grow fruit and vegetables. I want to encourage my students to grow something. I want to cherish nature and the serenity it brings to my everyday life. More to come on the word nourish in other posts.

And now for the seeds... Oh boy, do I have a lot of work ahead of me! Today I went to the Seed Bank in Petaluma (http://rareseeds.com/petaluma-seed-bank/). I've been dying to go there ever since I heard about it, but today when there was an article in the Press Democrat about it, I decided there was no better day than today. First let me say that my in-laws know I want to garden and got me some seed packets for Christmas. They got me: summer squash (zucchini), beans, lettuce, cucumber, and radish seeds. For some gardeners that might be enough, but not for me! Today I went BIG at the Seed Bank which is known for their heirloom varieties. I bought: Oregano Vulgare (herb), Basil Lime (herb), Parsley- Giant of Italy (herb), Common Thyme (herb), Garden Bird Seed hot peppers, Pepper Tam Jalapeno, Golden California Wonder Sweet Peppers, Pepper Sweet Yellow Stuffing, Beet Bull's Blood, Cauliflower Purple of Sicily, Broccoli Romanesco Italia, Parsnip hollow crown, Carrot Berlicum 2, European Mesclun Salad mixed variety seed, onion red of Florence, Corn True Gold, Sweet Corn country gentleman, Artichoke purple of Romagna, Asparagus Mary Washington, Pumpkin Big Max, Melon Sleeping Beauty, Golden Honeymoon American Melon, Tomato Royal Hillbilly, Orange ET Green Zebra Striped Tomato, Tomato Yellow Pear, and Tomatillo Verde.

some of the seed packets

Well, as if that wasn't enough I also got two packets of California poppies, two packets of Marigolds, and one packet of wild flowers.

And if that wasn't enough, I forgot to mention the other bulbs I bought! I love dahlias and so I bought 26 bulbs ranging in color from red to orange to yellow to pink and purple. I also picked up 18 Gladiolus bulbs in a bright green color, 6 Day Lily plants - mainly yellow some have maroon on them too, 24 mixed color Freesia plants, and 5 Peony plants ranging in color from dark pink to light pink, red and white.

bulbs - ready to plant after last frost

I've never started a garden on my own. I've never started anything from seed. I have a big adventure ahead of me!

In the next month I will be planning when to start growing the seedlings indoors, guessing as to which should be started indoors and which have a fighting chance starting outdoors in the garden beds. I looked up the last frost dates from years past and it seems the early May is the safest time to start. Here goes nothing...