Now that I'm a weekend warrior in the garden, I look forward to getting my hands dirty all week long.

I couldn't wait any longer, so I rigged up the indoor, grow lights and had the kids "help" me put a few seeds in a pre-fab starter kit.

Of course, I over-bought seeds. At only $1 a packet, it's hard to figure out how much is enough, and more is better, right?

This is only my second year germinating indoors, so after a "good enough" success rate with the herbs and lavender last year, I added a few, new seeds to the kit. 

I started:

• Pumpkins
  
• Snap Peas
  
• Leeks
  
• Cucumbers (pickles!!)
  
• Pacific Pear Onions
  
• Basil
  
• Cilantro
  

I learned a lot about basil last year and I'll be keeping it indoors throughout the summer.

Almost everything germinates in 7-14 days, so it will be interesting to see what pops up.

Also, since I have so many seeds left to plant, I'll probably buy another starter kit and do it all again next week. 

I look forward to the NW Flower & Garden Show all year. I like to see what's new and this year I was looking for information on locally owned garden shops.

I took a few photos. Hover over the pic for a caption.

I walked away from the garden show with a lot of business cards from metal designers. 

I also fell in love a couple times; once with a large, old window that was freakishly overpriced and would not ever fit in my car, and again, with a picnic table made from Western Red Cedar, that folds up for winter storage. www.bestshinglesales.com 

Fortunately, I didn't have much spending money, so I was mostly browsing the garden show, like a good girl on a budget. 

It's February 10th. If you're a garden nerd, like me, you're:

• Giddy about each additional minute before sunset, as spring approaches.
  
• Equally anticipatory and panicked over the impending arrival of spring. (There's so much to do before the last frost!)
  
• Self-conscious and intimidated about your big(gest) yard project this year (A vegetable garden, in my case.)
  
• Perusing all the seed catalog posts about when to start seeds indoors.
  
• Plotting your "strategy" as an attendant of the local gardening convention this month.  

When the neighbor kids come over, they skip the doorbell and head right to the back yard. Sometimes, the kids want to work in the yard for payment of one chicken egg. Today, we watched a chicken lay and immediately went to pull the golden egg from the nesting box. It was so warm! What an amazing experience to share with a kid. Food. It comes from farms and animals... and sometimes chicken butts. 

This weekend was awesome. I know this because my kids went to bed a half hour early and immediately fell asleep.

We ended up with a birdhouse made from wood scraps, a new floor in the chicken coop, a better system for watering the birds, a tidier back yard and sore muscles.

My raised bed installation is on the schedule for March 1st. As mentioned above, I'm intimidated by my own grandiose veggie garden plans. I have a back-up plan though. If I can manage, I'll take a "back yard farming" course, taught by a University of Washington professor.

Plans. I have lots of them.
 

Anthropologie.
I don't go in there because my money just falls out of my pocket and I walk out of the store elated, clutching things like dishcloths, ceramic egg crates and dreaming about dinner plates.
There are very few places that make me feel materialistic. This lovely-smelling, intoxicating store, is one of them.
The last time I was in there, I walked out with Farm Anatomy, the Curious Parts & Pieces of Country Life by, Julia Rothman.
Julia is an artist, who married a guy who grew up on a farm. A city girl, she learned about the farm through creating this book. 
Instead of writing about it, I'll put some of her art below.

This book is informative and just plain awesome.

Last fall, I came across Amanda Thomsen, while I was researching (read: stalking) Jessi Bloom. I was drawn to both Jessi and Amanda because they are my generation, having kids, digging in the dirt and just doing their thing. 

Amanda caught my attention with her Ryan Gosling/ Gardening memes and I died, DIED, people, when I saw this one in particular.

I pre-ordered Amanda's (Ryan Gosling-free) book, Kiss My Aster, as a consolation to myself for making it through Christmas. To my delight, it shipped early and I received it in late December. 

Kiss My Aster is a graphic novel, drawn and written in bubble letters. It's tongue-in-cheek, but also points to itself, saying "I'm funny!" which defeats the purpose. At the moment, I'm too lazy to dissect the book, so I'll just say that it is funny. It is informative. There are coloring pages and cross-word puzzles. Don't buy it as a "how to" plant the perfect plants for your yard. Buy it to see if you're on the right track with your design, to introduce others to landscaping and have a good read in the bath tub.

Amanda writes for www.FineGardening.com. Her bio there states:

Big, loud and fun- Amanda Thomsen landscapes by day and blogs at night. Her blog, Kiss My Aster, has alienated/enraptured dozens for at least 6 years.
She is the less popular half of the podcasting team, Good Enough Gardening, which makes her feel like the "Roy" of of Siegfried and Roy, but without the mauling. She lives in Chicago and does not EVER put ketchup on hot dogs.

Amanda Thomsen's blog 
Kiss My Aster on Amazon