Wind is howling

The wind is howling outside, before it got dark it looked like we had two -three inches of snow accumulated. I am sure that the blowing winds will move it around to the most inconvenient places.

Gardening is in the air!

Yesterday when I returned from the Michigan farmgirl luncheon in East Lansing, I finally planted the chives and oriental cabbages that I dug up last weekend at the house in Ohio. I hope they survive, the chives seemed to be OK but the soil around little cabbages was a little dried out, and they seemed a little bit wilted.

The cabbages were a gift of mother nature - I think some of the seed pods from the plants I didn't harvest in time last year exploded! The garden here is still WAY too wet to even think about tilling up, so hopefully the cabbages will recover. The water table is very high, I'm told by neighbors. So I'm turning over the soil for the transplants by hand. I'm trying to avoid the strawberries that escaped from the garden of the previous owner, she bragged about how big the fruits were two years ago, but that will remain to be seen. I've never been successful with strawberries before so perhaps this will be my chance!

I checked on the rhubard that I did plant last weekend, it seems to be doing all right. Also the bees balm and the black-eyed susans I transplanted from my Ohio garden seem to be fine.

There seem to be a lot of daylilies in the flower beds around the house. There are several plants I can't identify yet, but I did definitely see "Autumn glory" sedum.

Today I plan to start my tomato seeds. It might be a little late, but hopefully will still be OK.

Soil Test Time?

It has been pretty hectic with new job, move, unpacking, getting settled in, finding our way around the new neighborhood, and all. I'm afraid the blog posts have been few and far between!

I didn't get any seed catalogs from seed companies this year -- I am sure they all went to the dead letter office since USPS only forwards first-class mail. But one of my farmgirl friends on Mary Jane's Farmgirl Connection heard my cry of distress and sent me an envelope full of her catalogs. I am in heaven right now, curled up on the couch with a cup of coffee and browsing all the wonderful vegetables, flowers and herbs and planning this year's garden.

The soil in Michigan is much different than Ohio's silty clay, I think. I am going to have to find out where to take soil samples in this county to get them analyzed. I wonder if the ground is too frozen right now to get a good soil sample? It is nice to sit here in the warm house and contemplate the question.

The former owners had a small garden that they seeded to grass two years ago, I can still see the outline where it was, and IT IS MUCH TOO SMALL. I will have to negotiate with DH for more space. There is also an acre at the back that they did not mow, perhaps I can find some space there for perennials like rhubarb and asparagus, and maybe even a small orchard.