Orchids, a Celery Forest, and Roasted Butterbush Squash

   Seed starting is still several weeks away for most things, but the itch to get started is alive and well.  In the meantime, a little blog update. 

   For the first time, all three of our orchids bloomed at the same time.  The white ones and small, peachy/pale green ones haven't bloomed in years.

   During the winter months, we grow pans of oat grass so the cats have greens to nibble on while they dream of sunnier, warmer days.  This kitty likes to be hand-fed individual blades of grass.  She slurps them down like oysters!

   Under the grow light: a new pan of cat grass on the go, a few small cacti I'm trying to root, a small rosemary plant, a succulent plant, a small container of onion seeds, and in the tall, glass container (a McKenzie herb starter kit), some marjoram seeds.

   Also under the grow light are Amsterdam celery seeds.  This is a "cutting" type of celery (larger leaves and slenderer stalks than regular celery.)  The seeds were new, so most germinated, resulting in a tiny forest of sprouts.  If I can manage to grow them to transplant-size and repot them, I will have plenty to share, from the looks of things...

   This afternoon, I looked through the squash we had stored last Fall.  I decided to roast some of the Burpee's Butterbush squash (the first ones I've tried - thankfully, most stored well and were still fine to cook and eat all these months later).  They are easy to prepare and are very tasty.  The flesh is bright orange and softer than a butternut squash.  I ate one for lunch, stored another in the fridge, and skinned/cubed the rest to freeze.  These will no doubt have a space in the garden again!

   

   A few weeks ago, I was able to pre-order some fingerling potato varieties from a local farmer.  They will be delivered in May.  It was nice to have this option, as the shipping costs to have seed potatoes mailed are quite high.  The varieties on order are Amarosa (mid-season, red skin and pink/red flesh) and Bellanita (early, yellow skin and flesh).  We grew a small number of Amarosa in 2019.  They were delicious and I've pined for them since.