Starting Out Right

On 1 Jan., 2011, my little family ate crowder peas from the yard, cooked with carrots and greens (turnip) from the yard. It seemed like a good way to start the New Year. I'm still not sure that people were meant to eat turnip greens, but Joe seemed to like them just fine.

I made cornbread to go with the crowder peas, using the recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, More With Less, by Doris Janzen Longacre and published by the Mennonite Central Committee. I have had this cookbook since 1980, and its history as a well-used book shows in the stains on many of its pages.

The day before, on New Year's Eve, Joe, Zack, Stephanie and I set off "Georgia" fireworks (nothing is allowed to shoot up into the air, so there were a lot of fountains and things that spin on the ground), and the teenage boys from across the street did, too. A couple of the neighborhood rascals, along with their Mom, came out to help. It was fun. I am very lucky to live in a neighborhood that is actually a neighborhood, where people know each other.

On Jan. 2, 3, and 4, I was at work. Considering that many people are starting the New Year unemployed, this also is good. If I could just settle on a garden plan, my year's beginning would be complete.

It is interesting to me that this year's garden-planning is going so slowly. Last year's goal of more seed-saving went well, and it's too late for a midlife crisis to be getting in the way. I am hoping that when the catalogue from SandHill Preservation arrives, a light-bulb will go off in my head (figuratively), and a plan will coalesce. Wish me luck!