Garden Dreams

Grey skies, cold temps, and drizzle made indoor

activities quite attractive yesterday.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about gardening season.

It's that time of year when I begin to long for color and fragrant scents...

when I long to leave my boots and heavy winter gear behind

to feel the tickle of green grass in my toes or a warm breeze across my shoulders.

Don't get me wrong.

I love winter... I am even excited about the possibility of a snow storm on Saturday.

So, I content the part of me that misses the feel of soil in my fingers

by dreaming and planning and paging through seed catalogs.

I spent some time, yesterday, in front of my computer...

planning a planting timeline.

I made a list of the seeds that I wanted to purchase and the dates that I needed

to start them in the greenhouse...

or direct-sow them into the ground.

Then I got busy and ordered.

If you've visited during garden times, then you know that I love zinnias.

To me, there is no flower that gives more of itself than a zinnia.

They are spectacular in the garden,

and wonderful cut and brought indoors in bouquets.

So, I ordered my usual Profusion and Benaryl Giant zinnia seeds to start,

and supplemented those with some unusual varieties as well...

Queen Red Lime...

(flower photos compliments of Pinetree Seed Co.)

and Cherry and Ivory Swizzle...

I would like to dry some flowers next summer to hang from our beamed ceiling,

so I am ordering Amaranth...

and Gomphrena

in two colors.

I also found a new variety of Echinacea that bloom in the first year,

so I will be planting these seeds -

Green Twister Echinacea...

I have decided to skip planting some vegetables such as eggplant and cauliflower.

I have not had good luck with either.

Their yields never match the amount of space that they use.

I can buy them both local, and save the space for something else.

I love drying beans and am going to plant red kidney beans,

as well as these Tongue of Fire Bush Beans.

I received some seeds as a Christmas present and will be starting

tomatoes and peppers in the greenhouse as well.

Greenhouse planting will begin when we return from our short trip to

Yosemite in February.

As I sat at the computer writing,

I couldn't help but notice a pair of big eyes staring through the window at me.

Ivy is anything but subtle when she wants your attention -

and she wanted back in the house.

She will even resort to jumping up on the screen and hanging there by four sets of claws.

Yes, it seems the farm belongs to the animals...

we are merely "staff".

(and poorly paid, I might add!)

(Ok... so we do have great benefits!)

After garden planning, yesterday, I moved on to baking and made

Black and White Biscotti.

It gets sliced into strips between the first and second baking.

It's the perfect crunchy accompaniment to a cup of tea!

When it was time to head outside for afternoon chores,

I could only convince Chester and Sam to accompany me.

Annie wasn't too enthused about the idea... telling me she'd rather stay warm by the fire.

Who could blame her!

But, we had horses to bring in from the pasture...

eggs to collect...

and goats to feed...

so, the boys and I went to the barn, leaving Annie at home in her comfy spot.

While at the barn, Grizz came out to say hi to Sammie - 

rubbing against him affectionately.

That is, until Sammie decided to sniff Grizz's hind end,

at which point Grizz turned on a dime and gave Sammie a piece of his mind...

leaving Sammie feeling quite remorseful.

See? Guilt written all over his face!

I thought I would share another product that I am trying,

in my quest to remove plastic packaging from our house.

I searched for plastic-free deodorant and came up with this brand in a cardboard

push-up tube.

I'll get back to you regarding it's efficacy...

or perhaps someone in my family will!

😉