Monday, December 19, 2011

Remembering June

Here's a picture from June 13, 2011. The garden is lush, green, and full of promise,  with potatoes, onions, garlic and fava beans burgeoning.
 Today is December 19th, and winter officially starts in a couple of days.  It was 15 degrees  at 7am this morning, and I wore my dpwn jacket  with the hood up when I walked Sol this morning (he has a jacket too).
  This picture reminds me of what makes winter bearable for northern gardeners-- anticipation! You can't miss what you always have (so I tell myself) and gardeners in more temperate climes never have to look out on dead and dingy winter landscapes, dreaming of spring. Thus the full bloom of summer is not as  wonderful for them, because there is less contrast.
But I don't just dream.  I plan, and  seeing the planning pay off as the garden unfolds over the season is the greatest joy.   And that's what i'm going to write about over these winter months.  I'm going to analyze what worked in my 2011 garden, and what didn't, and plan a better garden for 2012.