Random Happenings Around These Parts

Yet another non-harvest Monday in January. I was planning on picking some spinach this past weekend but unfortunately the weather was too bitterly cold for me to do so. Oh well. I guess that just means I'll have another harvest to post about in February. I can't wait to be able to go out into the garden and do weekly garden updates again. Anyway, here are some things that have been occupying my time lately:


I'm really loving the latest issue of Urban Farm magazine. There's a lot of information regarding square foot gardening, keeping chickens and composting. If I do decide one day to return to living in the city, this is definitely one magazine I'd want to have on hand. Also, I picked up this Starting From Seed guide from the publishers of Fine Gardening magazine, which is filled with information on saving seed, growing from seeds, and starting seeds indoors. Also, there is whole section devoted to flowers.


I received some heirloom tomato seeds from Wintersown.org a couple of days ago through their "Your Choice Tomato SASE" offering. I'm very excited to try all of these varieties, which include Hillbilly, Black Cherry, Dr. Carolyn's Yellow Cherry, Isis Candy, Black from Tula, Clear Pink Early and Aunt Ruby's German Green. They also threw in some flat leaf Italian parsley and pole beans for fun. I guess I'll be growing a lot of tomatoes this year.


I picked up some garden trellis, a seed sower and a soil PH tester a couple of weeks ago. One of my goals this year is to get a better sense of my soil's overall health and fertility.


I mixed up a big batch of soil block mix last night using Eliot Coleman's recipe, which can be found in The New Organic Grower. Tonight, I will start my first seeds of the year. Hopefully, the soil blocks will hold together nicely.


Finally, a couple of months ago, one of my readers suggested that I enter Brighter Planet's Mastering the Art of Sustainable Cooking Contest, which was to be judged by several notable food advocates, including Alice Waters. I ended up submitting two short essays. And well, I'm proud to say that both of my essays made it onto the list of top 25 entries received and one of them won a grand prize of a Kindle DX and a $100 gift certificate to Amazon.com. (YES!) If you'd like, you can read my entries on Brighter Planet's latest publication.


I thought it was only fitting that my first digital book acquisition be Michael Pollan's Food Rules - An Eater's Manual. I must admit that a Kindle is not something I was ever interested in buying since I absolutely love the smell and tactile feel of a book. However, all of that changed once I turned it on. What I love so much about the Kindle is that it does not feel like you're reading from a computer monitor at all and the screen amazingly resembles the page of a book. Me likey.