Another Year..

2008 is almost over. I look back over the year and see wonderful things. My children are growing up and most of all they have an active interest in growing their own food and that leads to them being more healthy eaters. I've learned a lot about my family through gardening, successes and failures have contributed to a closeness that we would not otherwise have. It is interesting to think that this small thing endears us so to one another and it is becoming more important to me.

Our seed stock is becoming rather respectable, a plethora of new things to grow and try. This has sparked off the need for new ways of cooking and offers a wonderful addition to the palate that would otherwise be stuck statistcally in 10 alternating meals. We are a family that spends 80% of our time together in the kitchen and at the table. Another amazing everyday activity that keeps us close.

This coming year will see the upheaval of a major relocation. And then another after we've found a place to buy. It is going to be a hard road to walk for a while, with most of our lives in storage until we can break free from rental properties and into our own house with our own land. It has kept us from buying all those trees I keep pointing at and jumping up and down over, and that is going to take a toll, too. The prices are rising and it is frightening to think of what the cost will be initially be. That is our only fear in all of this. It just seems that nothing can outrun the rising costs, including our want to return to a simplier lifestyle. Especially our absolute longing for the land we've dreamed of having.

I'm a tad put off because I won't be able to garden this year like I'd planned. I will only be able to do the bare minimum which puts my teeth on edge. Our grand plans for a year of growing, harvesting and preserving are on the backburner until this entire mess is back to flowing easily. I'm looking forward to getting this over with as soon as humanly possible.

On a lighter note, my seed swaps have, indeed, put me in a much better position to be a good gardener next year. I'll definately have a choice in what to grow and will be able to expand gradually over the course of the growing season. I'm looking forward to getting to know each of the plants we intend to grow and taking endless notes and pictures to share here. I'm also looking forward to finding a garden mentor to help unlock some of what I already know but have not recalled so far. Growing up on a farm, I spent a good time in the garden, I remember from seed to harvest. Endless hours of shelling, shucking, dicing, canning. But those memories are through a childs eyes and some of it doesn't fit into what I "know". So I'll be hunting for garden buddies and mentors in the Portland, OR/ Vancouver, WA area.

Very exciting!

I started with Jack-o-lantern pumpkin seeds and some carrots and through seed swaping I've come up with:

Carrot, Danvers #126
Broccoli, De Cicco, Organic
Chives, Garlic
Corn, Sweet, Early Golden Bantam
Cucumber, Miniature White
Honeydew, Earlidew
Leek, Summer
Lettuce, Organic, Mix
Mesculin
Mix, Carrot, Lunar, Solar, Cosmic, Atomic
Mix, Salad Greens
Oregano, Greek
Paprika, Capsicum Annum, Szentesi Pincos
Parsley, Italian Flat Leaf
Pepper, Sweet, California Wonder 300 TMR
Pepper, Sweet, Orange
Pepper, Sweet, Orange Sun
Pumpkin, Jack-o-Lantern
Radish, Altaglobe
Sunflower
Tomato, Black Cherry
Tomato, Black Moor
Tomato, Black Plum
Tomato, Cherry Red
Tomato, Gold Nugget
Tomato, Green Grape
Tomato, Health Kick
Tomato, Heinz 1439
Tomato, Hong Yuen
Tomato, Red Pear
Tomato, Roma Giant Paste
Tomato, White Currant
Tomato, Yellow Lemon
Tomato, Yellow Pear
Watermelon, Sugar Baby
Watermelon, Yellow Doll

With more on the way. I also have a lot of flower seeds that I'm looking forward to getting out there. That list is about as large as this one and I started only with cypress vine and ended up with a lot more from swaps and newbie freebies.

My seed box needs to be replaced soon, I'm running out of room.

I have been very blessed with generous amounts of home grown seeds from good people who want to help us get started.

I want to experiment with growth lights and aeroponics since I won't have a lot of land for a few months, it seems the easiest way to do things for now. I'm looking forward to having a nice salad before meals and later growing most or all the vegetables that we cook with on a regular basis.

I just have to get over that potato hump. My husband thinks I'm crazy for wanting to grow two or three different varieties at the same time, but he is thinking on too large of a scale. He'll just have to wait and see.

2008 was a year for planning, 2009 will be the year that we get through one project at a time.