Happy International Compost Week

Thanks to Sam Fromartz's blog Chewswise, for letting me know that this is Int'l Compost Week. He's got a great overview of composting basics, plus he answers some of the usual questions: how do I get started, doesn't it smell bad, etc. etc. If you're a gardner, give a shout out to all those microorganisms that make your soil healthy; we wouldn't be here without them. Literally.

My own gardening pictures are forthcoming, I promise, although at this stage of the game there's not much to see yet. I did pick up some cucumber starts from a really cool grower at the Farmer's Market yesterday. They are "burpless" (didn't know cucumbers made you burp, but there it is) and produce very few seeds, so my sweetie should be able to eat them on occasion (the seeds make it difficult and painful for her to digest, thanks to her Crohn's). I'm always looking for veggies she can eat when we plan the garden, although there will, by default, be a number of things she can't. When you eliminate all leafy greens and tomatoes, there's not a lot left for her to munch on. We are planting carrots, beets and parsnips this year (root vegetables are gentler to her digestion), and onions as well. Those last are a first for me. We'll see how they do.

More later.

Okay, it's later, two-plus hours later, to be semi-exact. Note the pics above (I've never uploaded pics into my blog before and don't have time just now to figure out how the layout and captions and stuff). In clockwise order:  our parsley patch and a brand new pot of mint (I always thought mint was indestructible, but our old Japanese mint died last fall. Go figure);an Old German heirloom tomato, really good texture, flavor and lovely variegated yellow-red color; tarragon going crazy in the herb patch next to the parsley; and a row of red and green lettuces, so far unmolested by slugs. We've also sown our first crop of carrots for the season (we're hoping for at least two plantings), and a whole row of red and purple potatoes, but they haven't made an appearance yet.