Garden dreams

It's that time of year when our thoughts have turned to the garden. They aren't the same as the garden thoughts during the heat of the summer - what to weed, where to mulch, when to harvest, how to deal with pests. No, our thoughts on Sunday morning were more the dreams of this years perfect garden. I blame it on the seed catalogs. 

Michel Perry says, "Seed catalogs are responsible for more unfulfilled fantasies than Enron and Playboy combined." I think he hit the nail on the head. Around about January our big red mailbox begins to fill with these catalogs. They contain beautiful photos of luscious vegetables, plump fruits and vibrant flowers. In the midst of a cold, grey February morning, Farmer John and I sat down and began to dream that our garden might be able to match these photos. 

We had to narrow down the pile of catalogs. Although we only order from a few, we remain on the mailing list of many others. 

We're into our sixth year of ordering garden seeds. We've had some bad experiences with companies - some of which other gardeners swear by - their products and service just didn't meet our expectations. Our favorite seeds come from Pinetree Garden Seeds, Johnny's Selected Seeds, and Harris Seeds.  Although we experiment with a couple new varieties each year, the varieties that we know are reliable and tasty come from these catalogs. 

We made our choices, wrote down the product numbers, got online and sent in the orders. There was a certain feeling of completion when I clicked "complete order". But in fact, the work hasn't even begun. The arrival of the seeds will signal the start of the busy season of spring. The gray skies, mud, and chill of winter will soon give way to green grass, blue skies, and vibrant new life. We will carefully plan and work the garden in hopes that this will be the year that our little plot of vegetables will finally match the paradise pictured in our seed catalogs.