Celebrating Green

Ok, so maybe it's not what they mean when talking about green on St. Patty's Day, but I'm starting a garden.

I've never thought of myself as "domestic" despite my love for cooking and knitting. I always figured that my disinterest in pearl necklace-clad vacuuming and my general messiness negated the influence of such Martha-esque hobbies.

But then I bought a house. And I became a nester.

My room is still messy but I now find myself tending to plants and brainstorming the best way to store spices. I daydream about paint colors for the second floor and future renovations. Sometimes my domesticity involves power tools. I like that. It also never includes pearls.

And now it's March and I have embarked on new and slightly unfamiliar homebody terrain: gardening, one of my 2009 Food-to-Do items. Since I'm a novice at this whole "gardening" thing, I don't exactly have the proper supplies yet. My shovel is a cheap plastic spatula and yogurt container combo. And my hands.

The planter on my back patio isn't huge (see pic above), so the garden will be simple. I'm thinking of planting arugula, peas (since they can grow on a trellis and save space), chili peppers and maybe cucumbers. I'm also going to grow a collection of herbs, either outside or on a windowsill in the kitchen. For the trellis, I'm trying to brainstorm good found objects that I can use. One website recommended using old bed springs. I also found a cool one from IKEA I might get.

And in a more traditional Irish manner, I will be eating homemade corned beef and Irish potatoes tonight, most likely with copious amounts of beer.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

2009 Food-to-Do Update

Jam
Pickle
Buy a candy thermometer
Don't break my new candy thermometer
Compost (Started it, loving it)
Start a garden patch behind my house (Working on it)
Buy Mark Bittman's new book, Food Matters (Yeah, right)