Day 95: Spring is still around a pretty sharp corner at this point, but the snowdrops will be ready to greet it with open arms. I even noticed a few daffodil "toots" poking up through the detritus of last year's garden. It is time to open the seed catalogs, time to dream of vegs and flowers, time to check the supply of pots and soil, and to have all in readiness for planting. This generation, the computer generation, misses out on one of the most delightful springtime occupations: leafing through page after page of unimaginably perfect produce and lush, vivid mats of coloured blooms. It's just not the same, clicking link after link on a computer screen. I have to wonder if seed sales are down because it's such a tedious process. We called them "wish books," those catalogs which soon became dog-eared with repeated perusal. They let us compare, review, reference, and all with only a quick turn of a piece of flimsy paper. There was no waiting for the images to load. They were right there, right before your eyes: tomatoes in Technicolor, ranks of radishes, lavish lettuces and a fantasy of floral beauty one could almost smell. Mine invariably found a place on the kitchen table where I could enjoy them with my meals, dreaming of fresh corn and red-ripe strawberries. Yes, it's time to start looking ahead, and I can tell you this: the companies which will get my business are those which still send me printed material which, in a pinch, I could compost or use as mulch.
No comments:
Post a Comment