I hope you’re enjoying the first week of 2014! For me, it’s been a whirlwind of activity while I try to catch up on projects that should have been completed in 2013 (I truly put the “pro” in “procrastination”!). I don’t understand how I can know about a writing deadline for weeks in advance and yet still scramble a day or even hours before the submission deadline to get the piece in on time. I once read that panic begets creative spark…but I’m starting to think it just begets more panic. If I made New Year’s resolutions (and I don’t, because someone would be sure to hold me to them and therefore suffer certain disappointment), I would resolve to tackle my projects in a less pressured atmosphere.
Ahem. Who am I kidding? Writing should be an extreme sport, filled with dangerous pitfalls (arrgghh, she’s out of caffeine!), ticking clocks (aka Deadlines of Doom), and immense struggle against overwhelming odds (restrictive word counts).
Or something like that.
I suspect my REAL resolutions for 2014 will be to practice more Shinrin-yoku, take up meditation, and make a few regular trips to the spa. 😉
While procrastinating taking a break on New Year’s Day, my hubby and I headed out to Paskapoo Slopes for a walk. We really ought to have brought our snowshoes for the outing, as the snow was fresh and powdery and downright perfect. We followed coyote tracks in the wooded areas, and even heard the yips of one somewhere out on the west ridge, near the ski hill. It was one of those bright blue sky-vitamin D days, and once again I wondered why we humans don’t come with a built-in solar panel to trap and conserve sunshine for later use.
When we got back to the apartment after our walk, there was an e-mail waiting for me from a fellow community gardener. She was bursting with excitement, having just placed her veggie seed order for the year. I can’t think of a better way to spend January 1st, can you? It made me think that I’m slow to the punch, though, and so I’ve since cracked all those seed catalogues of mine and gotten myself worked up about a few things I simply MUST HAVE even though I’m not sure I have any space for them. Because we have shares in an excellent CSA program throughout the year, I’m going to focus less on greens and root veggies such as carrots and beets – we truly get them in abundance from the farm and there’s no need for me to grow more. That leaves the door open for more herbs, I think…and Brussels sprouts.
Yeah, well, I opened up my trap in the middle of Christmas dinner this year and announced I was going to try to grow Brussels sprouts. (My Mum had served them with her amazing rouladen and it got all of us to talking about our love/hate relationships with the little green brassicas). My hubby, the Meatatarian, hates them with a passion usually reserved for…well…cabbages and beets, but I’m a huge fan. They’re one veggie we never get enough of from the CSA share, so why not grow them myself?
Except…I don’t know if I have room. They’re a big space-stealer, and I’ve already planted nearly half my plot with garlic (we won’t talk about how I got carried away with the garlic last fall). Still, I feel committed and eager about giving them a go, so where there’s a will….
Plus, my plotmate at the community garden has some extra seed for ‘Jade Cross’ that she wants to share with me. I think my fate is sealed.
What are your must-have seeds and plants for 2014? Are you planning to try anything new?
Flowery Prose. 