Spring's here!

This is my favorite time of year. Snow storms aren't bad any more because you know the snow will last a few hours, not a few days or weeks or months. The weather is unpredictable, and ever-changing. I can steal flowers and forsythia branches from the neighbors (just one or two per house! I'm not a total jerk- I never take enough to be noticeable).

 

 The field behind my house looks green and inviting, and I can pretend that it's not going to dry up in a couple months,and be full of puncture vine that will stab me and Whitney through the blankets as we read for as long as we can until we're sweating and the pale skin we got from our Western European ancestors is pink and dried up (we can usually make it like, twenty minutes).

In April, these jerks don't exist.

But my favorite thing about this time of year is planning a garden. I have a dozen of scraps of paper scribbled with the plants I will have, those I might have, and those I should consider, if my tiny garden can magically fit more than I thought it would. I draw out little maps of my garden and divide up the space with twigs and twine. I love planting seeds indoors and seeing things grow. I like testing the garden dirt to see if it's dry enough: balling up a wad of dirt in my hands and throwing it to the ground to see if it's more mud pie or workable.Getting callouses from shoveling. Finding wonder in the living. And I love- I love- that soon my house and tea and dinners will be filled with things that I grew.

  

Today I learned:

Mediocre sewing skills, if left unused for months, will atrophy into a Sunday afternoon of frustration. A simple sewing project will be abandoned after an hour. I'm going to have to ease myself back into this. Tonight? Embroidery.

I need to buy some chia pets.

A couple weeks ago I was at work, reveling in a veggie sandwich from Apple Spice Junction, and I realized that for me, what makes a good veggie sandwich is the mushroom/sprouts combo. I spent every spare second of the day reading about the different kinds of sprouts, the health benefits* of sprouts, the best ways to grow sprouts at home, etc.etc. etc. On the way home I stopped at Whole Foods, where you can buy different sprouts in bulk. I bought just a little bit of three kinds- a sandwich blend (alfalfa, radish, broccoli, and mung), radish, and mung bean- in case this was just a phase and I lost interest after the first time.

For the radish, I spritzed a paper towel with water and stuck it in the bottom of a mason jar, with the the seeds over it. The sprouts molded before they were very big.

For the mung and the sandwich blend, I put about three tablespoons of seeds in the bottom of a mason jar, and used one of those paint strainers as a screen over the mouth of the jar, secured by the ring. I soaked the seeds for 12 hours, then shook out all the water, and left the jars to drain on my dish draining rack. I rinsed and shook up the seeds every twelve hours, always finishing by shaking out all the water and letting the sprouts dry out as much as possible. Within four days I had a really delicious blend for sandwiches/salads.

I also had a jar of really stinky mung beans.Turns out the paint strainer weave is too tight for the bigger beans; not enough water got out, and the beans went bad.

I'm debating buying or making a sprout grower because they look so nice, but trying to talk myself out of it because the jars work just as well (or will, once I get a looser screen for the big beans). What's nice, though, is that I can always have them on hand to add flavor and healthiness* to various foods. This week I'm going to experiment with sprouts in smoothies.

*Sprouts are a good source of protein, vitamin C, and a lot of other good stuff that prevents disease and cancer, and lower bad cholesterol.

I'm baaaa-aaack!

I had to retake the bar exam, so the last couple months have been spent studying and working, with very little time for either social life or hobbies. The good news is that I think I did well (though I won't know until the end of April or beginning of May), so I probably won't ever have to do that again.  The other good thing is that the exam got over just in time to start planning a garden. A lot needs to be done still to turn the city plot behind my garage into a productive garden, but I've got nothin' but time! I'm still working as a barista and volunteering with Utah Health and Human Rights Project, but without having to study, I feel free, free, free! So expect to hear from me more regularly. Expect new recipes and expect flowers and maybe expect a floppy hat.