Tuesday, March 5, 2019

A Plethora of Possibility


Yesterday was an exceedingly boring day. The cold temperatures--it never got above 12 degrees--and the snow meant that Poppy and I didn't go outside. The boys did have school, though there was a two-hour delay and the other bus just didn't run.

The other bus brings the majority of the elementary kids, so Cubby was the only one in his class yesterday, and there was only one other student in Charlie's class.

Anyway. Poppy and I spent a long day inside. She was bored. I was bored. It was cold.*

But there were seed catalogs!



Looking at seed catalogs is an interesting experience now that I find myself with a couple of acres of bare dirt of my own. Blackrock, of course, was already fully planted with many kinds of plants, as the MiL is a very knowledgeable and active gardener.

The last two houses I lived in were rentals. This is the first time I find myself with the responsibility of planning out gardens by myself. Well, by myself with A., of course, who is also pretty knowledgeable about plants.

We could get a climbing rose for the ramada! We could put lilacs by the fence! We could plant sedum around the patio!

One nice thing about starting from nothing is that anything is an improvement. There will be some trial and error, I'm sure (lots of error, probably), but it's fun to do the planning part. Especially when it's 12 degrees outside.

* Even in the house. The living room was 58 degrees. We have to work on the heating situation before next winter.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

That must be so nice to have a blank canvas to plan. Especially when it is cold and grey outside.

Anonymous said...

So exciting thinking about what plants to plant. So many possibilities. I spy that lettuce on the chair!
Linda

Lindsay C said...

I am in the minneapolis area and I can't even imagine spring at this point. We continue to get snow pretty much every other day. Also, I live in a condo/townhouse where the only outside space we have is a deck in the back and shared grass around the side of the house which is cared for by the association so there will be no planting going on for me this spring.
Possibly a super strange question but with you living out in the "middle of nowhere" are you able to get FedEx/UPS deliveries to you or do you have to get a PO Box at the closest Post Office and pick up deliveries there? My thought being that if you could get deliveries maybe you wouldn't have to drive to the big town quite as often. Just an idea! :)

Anonymous said...

I love the photo of your little helper! And, I endorse the comment above--we are snowed under in the Twin Cities! Mary in MN

Kristin @ Going Country said...

Loving: That's exactly the kind of weather in which seed catalogs are so comforting. :-)
Funnily enough, our middle of nowhere is actually in the middle of somewhere . . . which is in the middle of nowhere. That is, we are between two tiny villages that are far from any larger population center. However, our post office is just a quarter mile away, and I get a LOT of deliveries from both FedEx and UPS. They're hugely important here. So yes, a lot of my shopping is done online and delivered to me. The town visits coincide with library visits every six weeks or with something like bringing a car to the mechanic fifty miles away.

sheila said...

Is water an issue where you garden? What zone is it? I'm curious. With enough water, sun and heat I'd be excited about melons!

Kristin @ Going Country said...

Sheila: Zone 6. The water is somewhat complicated, but the upshot is that we have all we can use for now. So yes, with the combination of sun and water there are a lot of possibilities. Although interestingly, the nights are almost always cool even in the summer, so things like tomatoes historically don't really thrive like you'd think. Some experimentation is in order.

mil said...

Juliet, the small tomato that you had up north, is widely adapted and would probably be a good bet. I will also send you some extra Stupice seeds.

I was looking at lavender today--you are so very, very well suited to a lavender planting.

tu mere said...

58 degrees, in the house. My, my. It's back to Blackrock. Love the visual of all the flowers around the house. Would really make a beautiful difference. And lots and lots of vegetables, caged some way so that the friendly wildlife does not get to partake. Work, but so satisfying and fun for the boys.