Spring is here and the weather seems to be ready to follow...we had a nice storm roll through here on Friday with downpours, lightning and thunder. I don't particularly care for all the rain that typically accompanies our New England Spring; I do, however, love this season for all that it promises. For those Christians out there, Spring usually means Lent and Easter...for some this means a time of re-birth, renewing your faith...for others this means chocolate Easter eggs and hot-cross buns! For me it also means everything begins to grow again - my Jonquils and crocuses are all in bloom, my rose bushes are starting to show the signs of buds coming. (notice these are all plants that do not need a whole lot of work....I kind of just get to enjoy them each year). We have tried to plant flowers that will come back year after year, although last year we tried our hands at planting annuals. I have to say, I really enjoyed them. Nothing major, not a huge garden or anything, but you may remember that Big Fat Froggy made his home in our little flower garden all summer. So I had this brilliant idea since we are on a tight budget, that maybe we could actually grow some veggies this year as well and save money at the same time! You can stop laughing now...I understand this may sound funny..I can't even cook so why would I think I could actually grow food...but I'm serious. Serious enough that I did a little (and I mean very little) research online, we bought a bunch of seeds and we are going to give it a shot. Most of the seeds can be planted right outside once the chance of a hard freeze has passed (probably early May), but the peppers needed to be started indoors. No problem. I had actually bought a bunch of starter stuff at the end of last season as I thought it would be great to harvest seeds from last years marigolds and pansies and grow them for this year. Whoa....back up the bus...I can see all your eyes rolling in unison...I agree it's quite ambitious for someone who claims to never have time for anything...but I've been on this "going green" and "living off the land" kick...so why not? I know, I am quite skeptical myself...especially after almost all the marigold seedlings got this white, fuzzy mold on them and died. But the peppers are giving me hope:
Look at these little beauties! I'm so proud...of course I can't remember which ones are green peppers and which ones are red, and who knows if they'll ever survive long enough to make it into the ground...but it's Spring, and I'm hopeful!
I read an article about a family who moved from Florida to a cabin in Vermont to live off the land and the article was about how they had no experience with chickens but decided to buy about 40 chickens and they now have all the fresh eggs they could ever want. How cool would that be? I said to Bethany, "what do you think about raising chickens in the back yard?"...I thought she was going to spontaneously combust right there - she was so excited and of course she would get up at 5am to feed them and it will be really great. I thought it would be great too, and then I remembered we're not independently wealthy and there would be no staff to look after the chickens if we go camping for a weekend, and no staff to clean the chicken area....and we all know who would get stuck with that job. So I almost felt bad telling Bethany we would not be raising chickens...this didn't stop her from telling Mike we were going to raise chickens...at which point he turned directly to the only one who could have put this idea in his daughters head...and asked me if I was crazy. It could be fun....
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