Saturday may have been the best day of 2010, weather-wise at least. The sun was shining and it was warm enough to be outside wearing only jeans, t-shirt, and a hoodie. This is precisely what I needed to keep my gardening mojo going strong.
After an hour’s walk in the sun, I wasn’t ready to go back indoors, so I tidied up the garden by picking up the leaves, sweeping the path, and making everything good and ready for our plants when they’re ready to move outside.
Back indoors, I sowed my lettuce, rocket, and cilantro, and in the process, discovered a few pleasant surprises.
First, one of my tomato seeds has begun to sprout! The first sprout of the year – so exciting. It’s like magic! And I’m totally stoked for many more to come… I can’t wait to check on these bad boys tomorrow morning. Secretly, I’m rooting for the jalapenos most of all.
Speaking of tomatoes, I’m definitely noticing a Mexican theme to this year’s garden: jalapenos, tomatoes, cilantro, lettuce. That’s like 4/6 of a taco right there (the other 2/6 being refried beans and corn tortillas). A goal for the future: to enjoy Mexican food in England, with zero food miles. I think I’ll need a bit more space if I’m going to get jiggy with the corn masa and frijoles negros.
I was happy to see that at least one of last year’s gardening attempts survived the winter: this humble chive. I thought it would have died but it seems to have sprung back to life. Mmm, looking forward to some tasty omelettes in the future.
My other notable find was not edible, but exciting nonetheless: my yucca plant has sprung a new bud! This plant was in dire straights last year, so after some advice from gardener mom and the Helpful Gardener, I lopped off the stem in two places and planted it back into the soil. A couple months later, behold! A new sprout!
Overall, Saturday was a pretty spectacular day. And on top of the gardening, I also got an MRI scan of my ankle. MRIs, by the way, are totally out of this world. The room sounds like the “bleep bleep” of the bridge from the Starship Enterprise (classic Star Trek) and the drumming noises during the scan sound like aliens coming into attack. They let me bring in my own music to listen to, but I’m not sure why when I couldn’t hear it over the machine. Still, I’m anxious to get the results, and to be one step closer to solving this pesky ankle problem.
And of course, while I wait for all this new food to grow in, I’m making do with the fruits (and vegetables) of our organic box:
Ohhhhh, Monica… I know how thrilling it is to see that first sprout of life! Keep up the great work, make sure those seedlings never get a chance to dry out completely, but don’t over-water either. And I KNEW that yucca plant would rebound, that is one happy shoot poking out the side! Gardening teaches so many of life’s lessons… about patience, about dormancy before lots of activity, about cycles of life and death…. to name but a few. So glad you’re enjoying!
You’re growing a yucca plant?! Too cool! I’m about to plant my seeds in starter pots today, so excited!
I like the idea of a Mexican-themed garden (even if it wasn’t intentional, hehe). That will be so much fun to watch it all grow!
Zero food miles, that’s what I like to hear about!
What the heck is on that ‘everything salad’?!?!?! It looks so freakin’ good!
If memory serves, the salad was sauteed tofu, cooked quinoa, corn, toasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds, corn, red onion, red pepper, tomato, avocado, broccoli, cucumber, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper… the works. =)