They sure do know how to tempt me...

For Christmas, my sister, as one of her gifts, bought me this book.

I read it in a day.  It was great.  It was radical.  It was what I've always wanted to do, but don't know if it would really fly in this part of the country.

This woman, very much like a Pioneer Woman kinda story, was a "city girl."  Manhattan to be precise.  She went on a interview to talk to a young farmer.  They fell in love, they started a farm, they did everything themselves with horse labor instead of tractors.  They started a CSA and sold shares to people who got produce and meat and eggs and milk in return.

Whew.  I'm tired just thinking about it.  It was a great book.

I've read books like this before, in fact, I'm reading another one from the library right now, but the one thing all these books have in common for me, is it makes me want to be self sufficient with my garden, our animals, etc.  It brings out that deep-seeded desire within me.

Low and behold, guess what ended up in my mailbox the day after I read this book cover to cover...

Those seed companies really know what they're doing.
The glossy pictures.  The pictures of fruit looking like it's ready to burst with juiciness, the flowers at their peak...
They TOTALLY know what they're doing.
If you'll notice in the picture, I have A LOT of tabs at the top of the catalog, marking things I'd like to purchase for my own garden.

I really don't know why I bother.  I haven't been very successful at starting plants from seed.  I can't quite get the transferring part out to the garden down quite right.
But just look at the pictures!

Crazy beautiful.
So, that's what happens to me every year at this time.  In fact, I've gotten two more seed catalogs in the mail in the last several days.
Cover to cover man.  I'm tellin' ya, I can't help myself.
Next job, mapping out the garden for this year. ( If you change placement of plants each year, pests don't seem to follow as much.)
And we're starting a whole new patch, separate from the garden, for our sweet corn this year, so that's more garden space for me to plant.
Now I'm getting itchy for spring and winter hasn't even really showed itself yet!
Oh well...that just gives me months to plan!
Hope you all have a very Happy New Year!