This week was another doozy for hardy North Dakotans as we were blasted yet again with arctic below zero temps and snow. You know it's a tough winter day when school closes in parts of ND. Fargo, have you dug out yet?
However, today we have relief. It's warming up, with the snow turning to slush and ice melting off the eaves. Is spring finally coming? A few sure signs that spring is in the air:
1. Despite the lingering chill, people are walking outside without coats.
2. Kids are wearing shorts. Seriously.
3. The over-the-fence chats with the neighbors begin, as it's finally comfortable enough to stand outside and hold a normal conversation.
4. The mailbox is stuffed with garden seed catalogs!
USA Today ran a story recently saying that judging from seed sales so far, Americans are digging gardening again. This is very good news. If anything can get our food culture back on track, it's getting more people to grow their own food. Frankly, most of us need more dirt under our fingernails.
I get dozens of seed catalogs. I browse through most of them, but every gardener has favorites. To help you cut through the fluff, here's a few that stand out from the crowd for me:
Seeds of Change - if I could only have one seed catalog, this would be it. All organic, a little hippie, and absolutely beautiful to page through. Bonus points: I've never seen bat guano sold in any other seed catalog.
The Cook's Garden - the gourmet's seed catalog, for the garderner who does it for the hedonistic pleasure of eating garden tomatoes fresh off the stem..and frankly, that is reason enough for me. Pictures and recipes for blueberry muffins and gazpacho sit right along side plant descriptions. And there are 20 pages of salad greens. I counted.
Meadowlark Seeds - from Casselton, ND - the high school DECA group puts together this seed catalog each year. Everything is reasonably priced, and hey, it's for the kids! Check out the seed potatoes selection, all grown right in the Red River Valley. It doesn't get much more local than this.
Fargo has dug itself out, and the melting helps, too! I just hope we aren't getting our hopes up that it will stay about zero for the rest of the spring...
ReplyDeleteI want to get my garden going before this baby is born! Otherwise it probably won't happen.:) Unfortunately, we have to start from absolute scratch...