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It’s raining today, a good excuse to stay inside and write.

We probably needed this rain. I’ve planted carrots and beets and so of course the top surface of the soil needs to stay moist until they’ve germinated and sent down long roots. I’ve been watering them with rain barrel water carried in a watering can, but it’s no substitute for the deep drenching of a real rain.

Also planted out the potatoes I’ve been sprouting/chitting since January in my mom’s guest room closet. She keeps her house warmer than we do so it was an ideal place to get them started.

I usually buy tomato plants, but this year I succumbed to the siren song of raising them from seed. I have started Paul Robeson (dark, smokey flavor), Opalka Paste (tasty, thin-skinned), Mountain Magic (hybrid bred for heirloom flavor with strong late-blight resistance) and De Barao (paste, early).
If they survive my bad luck with tomato starts, I don’t know where I will put them all.

Going a little crazy with the herbs, too. On the windowsill I’m starting licorice, blessed thistle, lemon balm and lemongrass, skullcap, and wild bergamot. Don’t ask where I’m going to put all that, either, especially considering the herbs I’m starting inside are only a fraction of the total number of herbs I plan to direct-seed, which include Lady’s mantle, arnica, rue, and a garden’s worth of Chinese traditional medicinals.

I have no sense of when to stop. All this must fit in between the cracks of my vegetable garden, which, no surprise, is also more ambitious than last year.

And did I mention the two pomegranate trees and kiwi vines I added?

Help!

So, while I’m going new plant crazy, Deanna has been re-tooling our sidebar a bit. She’s added some new “frequently visited posts” to help with navigation. If you have some recipes, etc. you search for frequently, feel free to suggest them for the sidebar listing.

Also feel free to confess your overstuffed garden plans so I don’t feel like the only one.