Bookends

Like bookends to a most challenging season, floods arrived this weekend bigger and badder than even the spring floods.  This time, it’s too late to panic or really even worry.  All the crops that suffer from rain are on their way out anyway and as long as the water doesn’t sit too long, the fall crops will be okay.  All the same, I can’t help but remark on the coincidence of this most recent flood.  As if to say, “we survived.”  We move on.

The seed catalogues have begun to arrive in the mail, which pushes me into a Pavlovian planning session.  Jason says there should be a support group for people like me: SCA (seed catalogues anonymous).  Seed catalogues are inherently exciting with their bright pictures of beautiful veggies; I want to grow everything in them!  Last year, I’m afraid, Jason gave me a little bit too much free reign with the seed order and we ended up growing seven different kinds of eggplant.  And I won’t even get into the chilies.  But this is an exciting time of year.  This year especially as we venture into many new things, including a move out of the camper into a new house!  We expand to full capacity in annual crops, we’re planting blueberries and blackberries and asparagus, and we’re constructing three “hoop houses” to extend the season and keep rain off.  It all begins with the arrival of the seed catalogues.  Feel free to make requests!