Using Energy for Good
So we signed up for the SIREN Energy Challenge and have been trying to figure out where we use electricity and how we can cut back, which means Will is running around using his Killowatt on everything. At the same time, I am planning my garden for spring and also thinking about how we will take advantage of the summer bounty. My dad helped me set up a seed starting system with three shelves of fluorescent lights and I’m trying to talk Will into getting a chest freezer so we can store the summer’s vegetables but all he can think about is the increased electrical consumption.
It’s a tough balance! We have managed to cut down on our natural gas consumption this winter despite unusually low temperatures. I hope it’s from our vigilant caulking or perhaps our installation of a homemade insulating curtain over the window by our bed. Still, our electrical use seems relatively high even after replacing our water heater (which we thought was wasting a lot of electricity). The two main suspects right now are our refrigerator and our laptops. Laptops are more energy efficient than desktops but we both do use our computers quite a bit since we mostly work from home and we also use Will’s laptop for much of our TV and movie viewing.
I think we’re getting close to the point where we can’t cut much more energy use without major changes to our standard of living. I also think that it’s reasonable to use electricity for food production and storage, since homegrown food has other benefits in the form of increased nutrition, lower grocery bills, higher assurance of organic quality, and reduced transportation of food. Still, it’s always tough to evaluate all the pros and cons and I know for now much of my lobbying is based on the fact that I’m super excited about gardening.
Did you know it’s not too early to start planting seeds indoors, even though it’s freaking cold outside here in Indiana? I am ready to plant onions, kale, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, and cabbage so I have nice fat seedlings ready to transplant when the ground thaws in March. (All those except Brussel sprouts are available through Nature’s Crossroads and I’m enjoying the employee discount on seeds very much.) I suspect this will be another year when I bite off more gardening tasks than I can keep up with but I’m really hoping this will be the year that I feel like I mostly get it. Of course, there’s always more to learn so I won’t be too upset if I face a few more garden disasters…
This is Henry, one of the four dogs we are watching this week. They are all very sweet and generally mild-mannered but we have noticed that Henry is special. Henry is a weed-eating dog.
So far I have just a few plants going - peas and basil outside on the porch, tiny tomato seedlings safe in the kitchen, and two trays of seedlings ready to be transplanted to Maggie & Nathan’s garden next week. I tried to get creative and plant some herbs in little take-out Chinese containers but most of the seeds didn’t sprout. I suspect the problem is that I didn’t poke drainage holes, although I did put a bunch of peanuts in the shell at the bottom to provide some drainage (I didn’t have any rocks handy), and some of seeds sprouted quite well. So perhaps the other seeds were nonviable or there wasn’t quite enough light for some of the containers.
For the first method, you start with a heavy duty garbage back and fold over the top to make a really short bag - kinda like cuffing your jeans instead of hemming them. There need to be some holes in the back and some rocks (peanuts?) for drainage. Plant the potatoes in a few inches of dirt to start and as they grow, you unroll part of the bag and add more dirt or leaves or straw. By the end, you have a bag full of dirt and hopefully potatoes.
‘Tis the season for getting those garden plants started. Many classic garden plants like tomatoes and peppers suggest starting indoors 6-8 weeks before the last frost so I’m actually a little bit late. (Last frost here is about May 15th, I think.) My friend Maggie and I are growing flowers for our weddings as well as planting a big veggie patch this year. As usual, I pulled out my seed collection and decided I didn’t need to buy any new seeds but then after I had my hands in the dirt I realized I was missing some of the plants I wanted. Ah, well.
I hope this is coherent. It’s been a long week after a long weekend and it’s not over yet. Nevertheless, I managed to finish Barbara Kingsolver’s 
Will believes that some folks just aren’t gardeners and he may be right but I’m pretty sure I’m a gardener. I’m a little behind; January is the peak season for snuggling up with some great seed catalogs and sketching out the awesomest garden layout ever. But I have a HUGE stockpile of seeds already and it looks like I’ll be playing the supporting role in three gardens this year rather than running a garden of my own so it’s probably just as well that I’m not looking at the catalogs. (My favorites are 
