Last sunday we awoke to a blanket of snow. And darrrrrrling, it was marvelous.
Lucy’s favorite thing is to eat snow {okay, and chase squirrels and munch on chewy sticks as well}. She loves wearing her new coat and prancing around the backyard until we pretty much make her come inside. It’s like watching a little kid play in the fluffy goodness and it’s just the sweetest thing ever.
On wednesday the weatherman was predicting more snow. But I didn’t get my hopes up because hello, this is the Pacific Northwest and what do you know…. by saturday night the only thing in the forecast was rain. 🙁 Oh well. I suppose there’s always next year.
Garden wise, this year is going to be a bit of a tricky one. I have a lot on my plate and there are several things I won’t have control over timewise so I’ve decided to simplify how I approach growing/planting/harvesting the vegetables in my garden this year. Some years are like that. And you just have to go with the flow but getting ahead and making sure you have a game plan in place is crucial if you don’t want to drive yourself crazy and overspend.
So this year, in addition to planting seeds, I’ll also be buying a few plant starts. And that includes tomato plants. In years past, I’ve always started my tomatoes from seed because I could pick and choose my favorite heirloom varieties. But this year I plan on travelling during the prime “grow your own tomatoes under grow lights in the laundry room” time frame, and if there is one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that my husband cannot be put in charge of watering and maintaining seedlings. They will all die a horrible death. This, I know for sure.
So, I’ve decided to just let it go…. and hope I can find some decent heirloom varieties at our local nursery or farmer’s market later in the spring. Fingers crossed. 😉
Fava beans though, they are pretty hard to kill. I’ll be planting a few packets of those just as soon as it’s time to get the peas in the ground. Right now the backyard is a frozen tundra. But I’m hoping to get the first seeds planted in the garden {under row covers of course} around President’s day. We’ll see.
For now, all we can do is drool over seed catalogs and make plans for the things to come. Keep calm, and carry on. That’s my motto for the garden this year.
Happy winter everyone. Enjoy it while you can.
~Mavis
Pam Kaufman says
Here in Michigan I had to chuckle over you and Lucy’s excitement over your snow fall. While our snow has come and gone multiple times this winter we haven’t seen a light snow like that since the beginning of winter. I know from past posts you would love to live in a place with more snow fall, but trust me it gets old and makes for a loonnng winter.
Mary Custer says
I’ve learned so much from your blog and it’s one of the highlights of my day.
I’d like to send you my favorite gardening tool as a thank you.
May I please have your PO Box number?
Waiting on spring,
Mary Custer
Mavis Butterfield says
Oh Mary you are so sweet.
Mavis Butterfield
P.O. Box 2083
Gig Harbor, Wa 98332
Maxine says
Yay! I was hoping you’d share your Seed order. I’m zooming in on your picture for inspiration, even if it be from last year. Since I work full-time+, your altered garden plan may offer me more tips. I often get so busy my garden is full of beautiful weeds.
I usually order tomato and pepper transplants from Seed Savers but I have had luck with Whole Foods, who offers from an in-state farm, but it’s a narrow window before they’re all gone. The nurseries here are only just starting to offer heirloom or organic. Good luck! Thanks for letting us peek at your journey!
Brenda says
We have a local greenhouse that will let you pick your seeds and they water/ grow them for you till they are ready to plant. Maybe if you ask around a greenhouse by you will do the same. You provide the seeds, they provide the know-how.
Carrie says
We got 8 inches of snow in NC on Saturday. My pup had such a good time romping around and eating it!
Leslie says
Hi Mavis- it would be really interesting to see what your planting with some mention of what you do with that crop, or why you like to grow it. Obviously “we eat this” is easy enough, but I’m thinking “Fava beans? What does she do with those?” All I can think is liver and chianti.
Mavis Butterfield says
Hilarious!!! I’ve always used them in soups and pasta sauce. I’ll try to remember to put some recipes together this year.
mandy says
I’m going the same route this year for my tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. I just don’t get enough sun for them to thrive and have no room for grow lights. I’m going to miss having the little plants in my living room…I just think I’ll get better yields this way.
I already have two fava bean patches going and have more soaking tonight to plant after they sprout. I planted some earlier (first part Nov. and first part Dec.) just to see how they’d do and they’re happy. The later patch got a tiny bit of freeze bite on the leaf tips, but they’re coming through it. The last two years I’ve always waited untill the end of Jan. to early Feb. to plant.
Our favorite way to eat them now is to just put a bowl of them in the middle of the table, everyone shells their own and we eat them fresh with thin slices of pecorino, maybe some bread on the side, maybe a little wine as well. I love doing this by myself too. Quite an easy dinner, lunch or snack.
Looking forward to reading your recipes for them. They’re so good!