The Caldor Fire

The fire keeps burning and continues to cover thousands of acres in the mountains.  I took Rocky out very early (for me) this morning, and the air doesn't look very healthy - yes, you can almost "see" the air.  I didn't walk far as I noticed and felt the poor air quality.

At this time of year I get a lot of mailings from nurseries, offering sales of plants and seeds for the coming spring (2022).  I am so anxious to get started in a new place, and design and plant a garden.  I think Donald is getting interested too, and would like to have some input on what to plant.  He is a gourmet cook, and I'm sure I will have a really good variety of produce and herbs with his collaboration.   

Last year I grew tomatoes from seed, but this year I think I will buy established plants.  I'd rather grow from seed because I love watching the tiny shoots when they pop out of the soil, but it is a crap shoot as to how they will turn out.  Last year I had about 26 tomato seedlings and gave half of them to Megan (my d-i-l).  She has done wonders with her gardening this year and has really reaped a good tomato harvest.  I think I didn't enrich the soil enough or with the right enrichments, because nothing i tried to grow was very productive, if it came up at all.  What a let-down after my success last season.  I won't give up though, because it is such a joy to me to see any results at all.

I can remember years ago, when I was just a child, visiting my grandmother, whose garden behind their house was probably just short of a quarter of an acre.  I still see her in my mind, in the garden with some type of hand plow, and a mule pulling it along as it dug trenches in the soil.  I wish I had been more attentive to her gardening, but my favorite thing to watch was when she made biscuits every morning.  Those biscuits were heavenly when just out of the oven.  But I also ate them cold and leftover, which amazed her.  She saved leftover biscuits for when she made dressing (or stuffing as northerners call it).  When I was a bit older I often made biscuits myself, and although they couldn't hold a candle to my grandma's biscuits, they were pretty good.  My husband and kids didn't really appreciate them for the amount of effort I put into making them, so I quit doing it.  I think about it now and then, but probably wouldn't try it at this late date.  It takes practice, and a person gets better at it as they get used to handling the dough, and I have no one who would help me eat them now.  Not that I couldn't eat a half dozen fresh warm biscuits at a sitting, but I wouldn't eat them cold, and I certainly wouldn't make home-made dressing!

After writing about biscuits, dressing, etc., I'm tempted to go make a small batch of biscuits!