I planted garden seeds last week. I planted them inside to transplant into the raised garden bed when the weather is warmer. In the interim weeks, they will be very much like a houseplant — expect I’m starting from seed.
In a perfect world, I’ll have a dozen cabbage plants and three sunflowers to transplant. I’m aware of my gardening skills and hope that I have several cabbage and at least one sunflower to transplant. The sure thing — the chipmunks will not get the sunflower seeds — at least, not yet.
Only a dozen cabbage? The immigrants and early settlers in fictional Elm Ridge, Illinois would be appalled. While they often started cabbage at this time — in a cold frame often set on the sunny side of a building. (For shelter against wind and best advantage of the sun.) They planted more per person. After all, the garden needed to furnish enough to get them through a year. Storage? My ancestors turned much of the cabbage into kraut. Potatoes, onions, carrots and other root crops were stored in root cellars. Other items found their way into crocks — some pickled, others not.
In the sweet historical romance, New Dreams, one of Louisa’s tasks is working in the baker’s garden. Raised beds within a fence take up a good portion of the area behind the two-story building. Bakery downstairs, apartment upstairs with the outside steps making a physical divide between work and home.
Here’s a link to the Kindle edition of the book: https://amzn.to/3vWydWE
