Here's a Problem...

Distressing news about the depletion of topsoil from the Seattle Post Intelligencer

Topsoil Disappearing

This is what caused the dust bowl disaster of the 1930s.

The first sentence says it all...The Planet is Getting Skinned.

Now it's the Winter Rains

Actually today it's dry, but the ground is still pretty saturated and this morning there was frost and a little ice.

But I'm still harvesting salads every few days. A fantastic mix of Winter lettuces and radicchio, as well as all my arugula volunteers has gotten us through the winter so far. I've also got a couple of Lacinato Kale plants that are still producing tender leaves into their 2nd year. And we still get beets and carrots out of the backyard beds.

So I think I will reach my goal of having something to eat from the garden all year round.

And I finally built my 2 little cold frames on the south facing beds, which should allow me to get an early start with some spinach and other cool weather crops and should help me grow more things into the fall and winter.

Porno for Gardeners

Just in time,
just as the dark, cold, wet days of January are grinding me down, making me forget what it was like to walk outside on a summer morning and smell the soil waking up. Just in time, the seed catalogs have started to arrive in my mailbox.

Flowers, fruits, vegetables, herbs all jockeying for position on the covers. Beckoning me to indulge myself in flavor and fragrance. Shamelessly tempting me to fill the entire order form.

Hunkered down in my blanket, in front of a cozy fire, with a warm mug of tea, I carefully review over and over again the lurid offerings, trying to figure how much I can cram into my raised beds.

One of each please.