Well Then

I have been vastly underwhelmed by all the lurkers commenting. BECAUSE NONE OF YOU DID. AND I CAN STILL HEAR YOU BREATHING. Not that I am bitter in the slightest. But you can still ask anything you want at any time! And keep coming to read, even if you don't comment! You still like me, even though I yelled at you, right? RIGHT?!

Ahem. My insecurities seem to be getting the better of me today. Perhaps I should move along to the questions I DID get (from Sara and Carolyn, neither of whom are lurkers and both of whom I love because they comment, UNLIKE YOU INGRATES WHO WANT ME TO DO ALL THE WORK).

Jesus, enough with the caps. No more caps today. And onto the questions!

"Why don't you have cows?"--Bah, cows. Who wants cows when you can have sheep? But seriously, the reason we don't have cows? Because A. wanted sheep, and I didn't really want any livestock at all, so we compromised on . . . sheep. I'm okay with the sheep, because I don't want anything around here that's bigger than me. Also, no one who wants to have a life would have a dairy cow especially, because those damned things have to be milked twice a day, every single day, regardless of weather, vacations, or a desire to sleep in on weekends. Whereas the sheep, especially in the summer when they're eating grass, don't require so much care. And we are lazy. So there's that. Also, cow patties are a lot bigger than sheep turds.

"How big of a garden do you put out and what all do you plant?"--I assume this question is about the vegetable garden, not the flower gardens? I hope so anyway, because I don't know jack shit about the flower gardens. The MiL (who is the flower person) points things out to me all the time and tells me their names (often in Latin, which, come on now, this is me), and I nod intelligently and promptly forget it. I think this drives her nuts. But I know a little something about the vegetables, since I actually do work in that garden.

So, how big? Uh, bigger than a breadbox, smaller than a football field? I am the worst at estimating size. But it's a big garden. Maybe the MiL will weigh in with actual square footage, but I know it's bigger than our apartment in Albany. Glad I could clear that up. But I can tell you what we've planted and are planning on planting.

In the ground now are the fall garlic, shallots, dill, radishes, peas, some volunteer lettuce, chives, sage, and chervil, and a few tomato plants (Raad Red, Kellogg's Breakfast, and Moonglow) that are protected by Walls of Water. And some blackberries and Concord grapes. In seed pots waiting to be transplanted are Stupice tomatoes, a Giant Tree tomato, eggplant, bell peppers, hot pepper mix, Anaheim peppers, artichokes, fennel, and celeriac.

Later, we'll plant beets, Roma tomatoes (for fun canning in a sweltering kitchen in August! Sweat adds flavor!) more lettuce, carrots, squash (not sure what kind--Hubbards, I think, and maybe some zucchini?), cucumbers, asparagus, spinach or chard, various herbs, corn (Sugar Queen and another variety I can't remember, I think ), and Green Mountain potatoes. I'm not entirely sure about all of that, since the MiL ordered all the seeds and I'm not sure yet what we have. Let's just say we have good variety.

We also have pear, apple, quince, medlar, and persimmon trees. These bear sporadically, depending on if we remember to spray them in time so they don't get eaten alive. Last year did not go so well. The year before was phenomenal. This year is still up for grabs. Oh, and I think the MiL bought a fig tree this year that has yet to arrive for planting.

I do actually really like gardening. Well, I like eating what comes out of the garden, so I'm willing to put the work in for it. But I don't actually know a lot about it yet, since this is only my second season here to learn about everything. I'm getting better though. I think. Though I may occasionally still pull up vegetables because I think they're weeds. But hey! At least I'm weeding, right?

As for posting a picture of me . . . I will do this once someone takes one with the digital camera. One I approve of. Meaning my hair isn't in Janis Joplin mode (it's just a tad curly) and I'm not wearing the jeans with a patch on the ass. This might take awhile, so just be patient.