Even Keeled

Spring is here.  (Well, it should be anyway.  Nagging cool weather on the West coast).  While I enjoy late summer - early fall more, spring carries the most anticipation.  The days become longer, plants respond to their winter pruning with a rapid growth spurt and the decision to plant summer vegetables looms large. 

I’ve always been obsessed with plants that ‘produce’.  A great flower doesn’t really do it for me, but an edible, flowering herb seems so much more efficient.  I also place a premium on plants that produce vegetables that can be stored and used for the rest of the year…my favorite by far is peppers.  Each year I grow between 15-20 pepper plants, everything from Italian sweets to Jalapenos to Thai Dragons. 

This year I’m also going to try producing more “daily” foods.  The locavore movement has so many tertiary benefits that growing more tomatoes, a few onions and other common vegetables we’d ordinarily get at the store really can make an impact.    Also, nothing tastes better than fresh culinary herbs in simple backyard grown salad. 

Farming, more salacious employment not withstanding, is indeed the oldest profession.