This was March 14th, 2018, in Tennessee.
MARCH, for god’s sake.
And yes, I do love eclairs. Reuse, recycle!
I also love Maine, and am so happy I've achieved my goal of coming back here.
But, boy, as a gardener at this time of year, waiting out the last weeks of winter, it's hard not to think back on what was growing on my cute little farm in Tennessee. It doesn't help when I compare notes with my daughter and fellow avid gardener back in Nashville, either.
For starters, there, I could plant my potatoes the week of St. Patrick’s Day. I’m Irish, so this is serious business. I actually got to make my Colcannon from all my own produce there (OK, the cabbage and kale were just barely getting going, and the potatoes were obviously from the previous season – but I cannot tell you how happy it made me).
Turns out purple potatoes turn your colcannon pink! Delicious, nevertheless. So much so that I couldn't resist taking a bite before remembering to take a picture.
But I will say, earlier warm temperatures (sometimes very early and very warm in TN) can wreak havoc in the life of a cool-season vegetable lover.
It’s not hard to make things warmer for my crops -- from Agribon to cold frames or greenhouse plastic, or even old sheets in the case of a surprise frost -- but, cooler? Shade cloth can only do so much.
By 2020, my final spring on the original Nanimal Farm, I decided to forgo planting in the big garden beds, since I was already crazy busy getting the farm ready to sell before my move back to New England (during Covid as it turned out, which made it extra fun).
I figured I’d just grow a few things in pots on the deck, since my early brassicas and salad greens had never been fabulous in that climate anyway.
Well, surprise -- not only did the house sale not happen until November, but that year brought ideal spring growing weather. Never had I grown such perfect cabbages and broccoli. Not to mention tatsoi, arugula, chard and kale!
As gardeners know -- you just never know.
The brassicas were delightful, and I had fun with container design, as well as making my own grow bags out of chicken feed bags. And Jasper, as usual, had lots of photo ops. He's so patient with me. Yes, there are treats involved.
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