February 27~ 

My seed order arrived while it was snowing. In my mind, nothing could be more perfect or more hopeful than that. Winter is when we plant the mental seeds of projects that will grow and flower the rest of the year. Getting my box of seeds, though, reminds me that dream time is nearly over....the bliss of armchair gardening is about to give way to the realities and all the great ideas I have had about getting my business back into gear, now have to actually take form.

First, back to my seeds......I always browse through  the beautiful seed catalogs--that often also send beautiful seed packets. But the prices are extremely high --especially for the amount and variety that I order. Also, ordering from several places ends up costing a lot more in shipping. By nature, I am a one stop shopper and will spend the time to find the  right place...and so, for the last 25 years, have ended up buying the bulk of my seeds, potato and onion starts from Fedco in Maine...their name is as plain looking as their seed packets.

But....their catalog is a great read, full of colorful descriptions (more than making up for the lack of colorful pictures), political viewpoints as they pertain to seeds and gardening, addresses of seed saving and heirloom organizations, information on fighting GMO (they are currently involved in a lawsuit against Monsanto) and they give personal service--little hand written notes--this year someone wrote to point out all the mistakes I made on my order. Fedco is technically a seed coop, so the prices are phenominal and if ordering a large amount, there is a sizable discount as well. Pretty is nice, but sometimes "plain" is where the substance is. 

I also received a huge herbal supply order yesterday. When  returning home, I saw two big packages on the porch......with all of my cats laying on top of and beside them. They had even begun knawing a hole in the corner to get at the catnip inside! In the coming weeks, all those supplies will be made into wonderful herb products...the seeds planted in my imagination will now give way to growing my business...and a really untidy house. So, I will procrastinate a little bit more as I slowly unpack my seeds and supplies and organize them.....a little more dreaming before the work of Spring begins.