What's up Here at Home

The days are slipping by..closer and closer to March, when the majority of our edible garden seeds will begin their lives in moist warm soil. Leeks, however, should be started now....thanks Owen for the advice! Speaking of advice though, I must say bloggers, you've let me down. When I showed off my "magnificent leeks" in an earlier post, absolutely no one mentioned there was very little white on the stalks. (You are all too kind, this I know) In fact, I wondered about directions in cookbooks warning...YOU MUST wash leeks very carefully! Gee...mine were always so clean...and now I know why))). This is what I recently learned.

"Leeks should be transplanted into a trench about six inches deep that has about an inch of compost or well rotten manure at the bottom." Keep the babies snipped to about four inches till ready to transplant. "Around the last frost date, plant the seedlings up to their mid points at the bottom of the trench, about four inches apart". (That doesn't seem far enough apart to me though but I'm dreaming of GIANT leeks)))) "As they grow, gradually fill in the trenches to blanch as much of the leek as possible. Once the trench is filled in, then mulch well or hill up." Apparently, leeks hate weeds and dry soil, "so water during dry spells and before hilling up. They can be harvested early, up to 100-120 days from when they were transplanted." This information was gleaned from the pages of Harrowsmith Magazine. Well, I'm game for this...anything for nice long white leeks which are more usable.

So what else is up...just after Christmas the local nursery folks offered us a bunch of yellow stem dogwood branches; it was year end and clear out. With little hope, I kept them trimmed and in water. Now they're sprouting roots and blooming. How's that for winter miracles.....pretty awesome I would say. Thanks Ken.

The local grocery was selling primroses..almost dead..honestly, why do they do that. Is it necessary to bring in plants to sell and just ignore them and let them suffer so? Today, they are shining back at me, their dear pink faces glowing in the late winter sun through the front window. How can a primrose not promise spring!

We did sow a packet of  mache in the raised bed one of the last mild afternoons. Don't think it will do any harm..and well, if they germinate...it's all good. There are still greens coming out of the Red Shed, growing under lights with minimal warmth, except on clear sunny days when it gets pretty steamy in there. A perfect place to sit and dream about summer.......

............the potting soil fragrant, lady bugs dancing....sigh...only four weeks till spring!