the difference a year makes

the backyard- March 12, 2012

The difference that a year makes?  The above photo was our backyard this afternoon.  Brown, yes, but no snow to speak of.  Tulips are starting to poke up out of the mud on the south side of the house, and the yard smells like rain, earth and the neighbor's thawing dog poop.

Now scroll down and see the exact same yard exactly one year ago.

the backyard- March 12, 2011

That's the difference between a normal Minnesota winter (or what was at one time normal) and the this current winter.

Last year I was starting to go nuts by this time in March- having no prospects of growing anything anytime soon.  The cold and snow was getting under my skin and I needed an outlet.  So I started this blog.  It turned out to be good timing, because it has been an eventful year.

We tapped our maple tree when it started to get milder later in March, then watched as it snowed on us while we tried to plant our new strawberry plants on May day.  June was unusually wet, then became hot, then mid-summer was dry, and Japanese beetles arrived in hordes.  Then frost came early for the suburbs, but not for us in the city where we had 5+ more weeks of growing season, and had time to bring in a bumper crop of carrots for carrot wine.

Then in November, Gita was diagnosed with breast cancer, and that became the unfortunate focus of our lives, at least for a while.

As it is I really enjoy writing.  There's not a lot of time for relaxing these days, but I actually find the process of sitting in my easychair in the evening and typing about gardening relaxing.  Like sitting with some friends by an electronic campfire.  So I'm glad I started this.  One year in, this is a lot of fun, when I can find time to do it.

Since you are reading this, I want to ask you now for your opinion.  No- I am not asking for money.  Blogging is free, at least for now, and I don't really need it.  What I really want to know is how I could improve this, and make it more useful to gardeners and peak-oil aware folks in cold climates.

So leave a comment, or if you're shy, send me an email telling me what you'd like to see more of.  My email is in the biographical thing on the sidebar. Is it the stories of tending a backyard garden, or photos of kids playing, or close-ups of flowers, or ratings of garden seeds?  Is it the stories of daily life dealing with a loved ones' cancer?  Or is there something else you're interested in?

I started this partially because I wanted to write the kind of blog that I'd like to read, and I've really enjoyed the process of making that happen.  Now I'd like to hear what kind of blog you would like to read, and request your help in making that happen.

As always, I accept no ads, and don't endorse anything that I haven't used or wouldn't use. I may sound like a salesman for Fedco seeds sometimes, but that's just because I like their company (or co-op, that is) so much.  I like to say that my opinions are my own and not Monsanto's.  That's one thing that won't change.

Thanks for reading.

Jeff