Spring is Here

Spring has officially come to Cincinnati, and dang if that isn't a lovely feeling after such a long winter! This year we are going to primarily grow vegetables at our friend's house. He has a big big backyard with lots of sun. Tonight we went over to do soil tests and we tilled the garden bed too. I don't have any photos yet but things are coming along. About a week ago I set out some seeds for all sorts of spring vegetables: two kinds of spinach, two kinds of kale, four types of carrots (with more on the way!), two kinds of mustards, peas, and artichokes. I can hardly wait for the mustards, we are growing Misome, an Asian mustard green, and Giant Purple Indian mustard -- my absolute favourite. Giant Purple is a very tender mustard and has fantastic purple colouring. Come to think of it, we are growing a lot of purple veggies this year (Cherokee Purple Tomato, Red Russian Kale, Cosmic Purple Carrots, Giant Purple Indian Mustard, to name a few, oh and purple basil!). I also think I have three, if not four kinds of basil. I'll be darned if we don't have a freezer full of basil pesto come Autumn! I am also in the throes of figuring out what to put in our own yard. Our backyard is very shady so I am focusing on plants that would thrive in that environment. Our front yard is where I would like to grow an herb garden, have pollinator attractors, and edible perennials. I never thought that I would care so much about ornamental plants, but here I am with a list on my fridge of all the plants I want to put in the backyard. As I mentioned to a friend earlier today, I am having to hold back on the idea of having a frontyard that is completely covered in blueberry bushes and lavender. Very tempting, I must say! Needless to say, I am very excited about all the potential that our new yard has, even in spite of having so much shade.