A Return to Gardening
One of my goals upon a return to a saner lifestyle (I left a fairly time- and travel-intensive big firm practice in D.C. for academia) was to start gardening more and better.
My family is garden-y on both sides. My dad's dad, Orval Childs, was an agri professor at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, Arkansas, for decades. (Indeed, one agri building is named after him.) My mom's dad, Gordon Hartrick, was a Georgia Pacific forester and beekeeper, and her mom, Alma Hartrick, was a long-time gardener, canner, biologist, and so on. And the gardens growing up were always wonderful, and my mom's retirement gardens (in northwest Arkansas) are increasingly amazing. Some large number of aunts and uncles are involved, either as a vocation or an avocation, in serious gardening. And we've had nice gardens from time to time, mostly in St. Paul and Austin. Since finishing law school, not so much.
But I've never been really serious beyond just keeping some bedding plants alive. I could muddle along but never paid quite enough attention to really know what was working and what wasn't working. Certainly no Latin names. So I'm hoping to improve on that. Though perhaps not the Latin name part.
All that's a way to lead up to praise for Annie's Garden & Gift Store in Amherst (almost up to Sunderland). I noticed a reference to a seed starting class there this morning and went, almost on a whim. It was a terrific -- and free! -- class, they gave all attendees a 20% off coupon on seeds, and they have a nice selection. I'm certain there are other stores with more, and I'm certain there are places online and in the area with better prices (though perhaps not with the discount), but I was perfectly happy to spend a little more to get to shop in such a nice spot with incredibly helpful people working.
So hopefully this summer we'll have a good salsa garden: tomatoes, tomatillos, habenero chiles, ancho peppers, jalapenos, cilantro, thai chiles. Also basil and sunflowers. (Not all will be started inside; I did pay attention.) And I got very close to everything I'll need to have a lot of stuff (assuming success) for less than $30.
Also assuming success, friends and family can anticipate salsa for Christmas.
P.S. While writing this, KCMP (see earlier posts) played the theme from Shaft. That's good living.
My family is garden-y on both sides. My dad's dad, Orval Childs, was an agri professor at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, Arkansas, for decades. (Indeed, one agri building is named after him.) My mom's dad, Gordon Hartrick, was a Georgia Pacific forester and beekeeper, and her mom, Alma Hartrick, was a long-time gardener, canner, biologist, and so on. And the gardens growing up were always wonderful, and my mom's retirement gardens (in northwest Arkansas) are increasingly amazing. Some large number of aunts and uncles are involved, either as a vocation or an avocation, in serious gardening. And we've had nice gardens from time to time, mostly in St. Paul and Austin. Since finishing law school, not so much.
But I've never been really serious beyond just keeping some bedding plants alive. I could muddle along but never paid quite enough attention to really know what was working and what wasn't working. Certainly no Latin names. So I'm hoping to improve on that. Though perhaps not the Latin name part.
All that's a way to lead up to praise for Annie's Garden & Gift Store in Amherst (almost up to Sunderland). I noticed a reference to a seed starting class there this morning and went, almost on a whim. It was a terrific -- and free! -- class, they gave all attendees a 20% off coupon on seeds, and they have a nice selection. I'm certain there are other stores with more, and I'm certain there are places online and in the area with better prices (though perhaps not with the discount), but I was perfectly happy to spend a little more to get to shop in such a nice spot with incredibly helpful people working.
So hopefully this summer we'll have a good salsa garden: tomatoes, tomatillos, habenero chiles, ancho peppers, jalapenos, cilantro, thai chiles. Also basil and sunflowers. (Not all will be started inside; I did pay attention.) And I got very close to everything I'll need to have a lot of stuff (assuming success) for less than $30.
Also assuming success, friends and family can anticipate salsa for Christmas.
P.S. While writing this, KCMP (see earlier posts) played the theme from Shaft. That's good living.
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