Garden Journal: Jan. 15, 2012

Today, I planted pansies in the hanging pots which sat derelict. Three pansy plants are in each pot, various shades of purple and one white with a purple center in each pot. Then I hung them from the wrought-iron work on the front porch. I felt a bit British taking so much care to have a front garden in winter when all the lawns and trees are bare and color is so out-of-place.

I also sowed an oat/pea cover-crop in one of the square garden plots. It should be a mild enough winter that the crop grows fast. 56 days to mature, then we’ll till it under in time to transplant our seed starters for spring. It should help improve the soil without wasting the winter months on an empty garden plot. There are advantages to gardening in Texas! We (Matt & I) also planted about 30 slip onions in one of our gardens. Hopefully they have enough of a head start to give us at least baby onions (for stew!) before we have to put in a spring crop. Matthew also added a purple cabbage (to serve in his ritual morning vegetable and fruit smoothie).

I know it’s the Lord’s day, but Sunday is the only day Matt and I have off of work together and its surprising how restful working in the garden can be. It took us about an hour to do all the work mentioned above.