Starting from seed

Inspired by Monica Flaherty, whom I wrote about in the Larchmont Gazette, I decided to bite the bullet this year and get a head start on my garden by starting some plants from seed.

Scouting out the seeds available from Tony's Nursery, Stop and Shop and Home Depot, I picked up the usual suspects: lettuce, cucumbers and spinach. And then there was the basil seed, ready to be watered, in a small pot that I'd picked up at a Christmas Tree Shop several months ago.

While Monica doesn't believe in using peat pellets, preferring to start everything in larger cups, I had bought some pellets on sale at the end of the 2009 gardening season, so I decided to use them. Sure enough, within days, the seeds had sprouted, and I was hooked.

Soon the shelf in my office was overtaken by seedlings. Inspired by my success, I went back to Tony's and picked up zinnias and impatiens. I began imagining that I'd have enough plants from a single $1.69 packet of seeds for the entire garden.

Help a needy Mom this Mother's Day

We never celebrated Mother’s Day when we were growing up. My mother used to say, “You should love me every day, not just one day a year.” So while my friends were busy buying cards and gifts and going out for dinner, I pretty much let the day go by like any other Sunday.

When I had children of my own we pretty much followed the same practice, although by then I’d relaxed a bit and appreciated the breakfast in bed they’d bring me.

A knitting celebration

Last night I joined more than 30 other women who knit to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Silver Canvas, Larchmont’s knitting store. And all of us, as the invitation suggested, were wearing our own creations. (See the story on The Larchmont Patch).

It was absolutely delightful! From simple scarves to elegant evening sweaters, the creations were imaginative, beautiful and – most important, as they all were created under the tutelage of Alice Giupta, owner of The Silver Canvas -- they fit perfectly.

I learned to knit when I was five and, except for a few years between high school and children, I’ve been knitting ever since. Now most of my knitting is for my four grandchildren (my goal is one sweater per child, per year) and it was only this year that I decided to make something for myself.

The sweater that I’m wearing (and which I wore to Alice’s party) is the Anhinga pattern by Norah Gaughan. I thank my friend Vicki for prompting me to try the pattern. It’s quickly become my all time favorite pattern.

For me, knitting is a wonderful way to relax, rating second only to gardening.

I find that I when I’m knitting I “think without thinking” about things that are bothering me. The soothing click-click of the needle, the steady lengthening of the item, are a soothing mantra.

If you’ve not yet tried it, stop in at The Silver Canvas and ask Alice when her next set of classes begin. Of give me a call and I’ll give you a hand.

Cookin' Easy

This being the start of Passover, the kitchens of many people I know have been a real beehive over the past few days. Into the tumult comes some welcome relief. So if you’ve not yet had a chance to read today’s “Editorial Observer” in the NY Times, put the spoon down and take a gander. And, if you have the chance, look at the video on YouTube.

In this age, when Julia Child’s cookbook is all the rage again and The Food Channel seems to be the most popular choice every time I fly Jet Blue, Laban Johnson and Larry Bly remind us that cooking can be fun and doesn’t need to be a full-day affair. Or, as Lawrence Downes writes in the piece,

“Perfection belongs to God, not us, the Southern writer
Flannery O’Connor would have told you, her eyes boring holes in yours
as she poured Coca-Cola in her coffee.”

Gotta love it.

Happy Passover, Easter, or whatever it is you’re cooking for this week.

Square Foot Gardening

Today’s so cold and rainy it’s hard to believe that earlier this week I was working in the garden, turning the compost pile and “harvesting” enough pails of good rich compost to give the vegetable plot a good start on the early crops.

But the work that I did pales in comparison with that of Monica Flaherty, who I interviewed for the Larchmont Gazette. She’s inspired me to take up the square foot gardening method. So I’ve ordered the book and am getting ready to curl up with it this long rainy weekend.