Beginnings (Again)

I've been wondering what it was going to take to wake me from my gardening coma. Mild weather with blue skies and whole stretches of days without rain wasn't enough to do it. The cats luring me out to play didn't do it. And god knows, the burgeoning weed population hasn't done it either. But yesterday a large envelope arrived in the mail--a promotional package from Renee's Garden--and today it did the trick.

The package announced Renee's new seed varieties for 2009, including a couple of beautiful new sweet peas ("Zinfandel" and "Painted Lady"), a honey-scented alyssum ("Summer Peaches"), and two lettuce mixes ("Asian Baby Leaf" and "Ruby & Emerald Duet"). There's more--those were just what caught my eye at first glance. And to entice me further the package contained a complementary pack of the Asian Baby Leaf seed mix.

Renee's Garden is my favorite seed company. Their seeds are reliable germinators and they provide so much more information on their seed packets than most other seed companies. One thing in particular that I love is that they actually provide detailed information about how to harvest--exactly when to cut, how much to cut, and how to get a second growth. Sometimes they even provide information about how to cook the veggies. And if you're not a fan of their pretty seed packet illustrations, you can always go their web site to check out the real-life photos of each variety.

So with my new packet of Renee's Garden seeds in hand, I stumbled bleary-eyed out to the garden today, freshened up a couple of containers with an addition of new compost, and sprinkled Asian Baby Leaf seed mix over the top. Come early spring, these will make easy salad pickings right outside my back door. And while I was at it, I also planted another container with some of the sweet pea seeds from my last year's crop.

It wasn't much of a dent in all the gardening that needs to be done, and I'm not sure the funk I've been in is entirely lifted. But I defy anyone to plant seeds without feeling just a little bit better.