Outside

Outside is One Year Old (and 3 days)

I can't believe I missed my one-year blogiversary. I knew it was in late March, but didn't look it up until this morning. It all started with this unprepossessing post on March 24, 2006.

Last year, there was still snow. This year, the ice is almost off the pond (in fact, it will probably be the official ice-out when I get home tonight). And the only snow that's left is this pile next to the driveway, which was over 5 feet tall just 2.5 weeks ago. Plus, two nights ago we heard the Western Chorus Frogs for the first time. (Go here to read more about them, and here to hear their wonderful call.)

I took my first real walk around the vegetable garden last night, and there are already signs of wakening plants. On the left is an emerging bearded iris, on the right are chives. If the weather holds, I'll be out in the garden this weekend doing clean-up!

Why Blog?

There is a mini-discussion among some garden bloggers about why they blog. Seems as if it all started with what was probably a completely innocent comment about Garden Voices on Gardening While Intoxicated on May 10, 2006. 1-2-3 Go Garden! responded to the blog comment, and so it went from there (to Just Your Average Garden Variety on May 17, to Dirt on May 19).

What's my excuse? I definitely started as a way to document my garden. Every year I try to keep track in a notebook, but I inevitably fail to keep up with it, usually stopping right after I get the vegetables in the ground. The following year, I end up trying to rely on my spotty memory about what did well, what didn't, and why. After a disastrous year in the garden last year (due to a cold and wet June, pesky four-legged garden pests/predators, and eventual surrender to a year gone bad), I vowed to do better this year. And I believe that I have, to some extent because of the blog.

In addition, I also want to document what blooms when, and what's going on in the little ecosystem around my house. Since I started this blog in March, most of my posts have been about the vegetable garden, because that's what comes first in the spring. However, once the heat-loving veggies are planted, it's all maintenance until about August. At that point - sometime in early- to mid-June, my posts will probably turn toward documenting the flower beds I hope to put in around the house, and the native flora and fauna around the neighborhood.

Of course, it's still May, and hope in the gardener's heart springs eternal in May. I will have to check in with myself in July or August to see if I have kept up with my good intentions.

I am also fascinated with other peoples' blogs. By reading other gardening blogs, I've picked up tips and tricks, marvelled at some beautiful gardens, seen pictures of individual plants I would love to have, and basically felt good about being in a world-wide community of people who care for the land. Right now I'm really into the British allotment holders. (See Allotment 21, At Last I've Got My Plot!, Dig for Victory, and Horticultural for just a sampling.) Their enthusiasm for vegetable gardening is infectious. I just wish more Americans were into growing their own food, but that's a topic for another day.