A friend asked me today what my plans are for the vegetable garden this year. I suspect she probably meant it as a distraction from my sorrow over Brio. I've been trying to reconcile myself to not having him here, but it's hard. He was so entwined with everything I did! I can't open a can, slice cheese, put on my shoes to go out, come back indoors, go upstairs...without expecting him to appear, to stand on his hind legs trying to see on the counter, to come running at the sound of the can opener, to curl up against the backs of my knees on the bed. I sit on the couch and have nowhere to put my hand, because it always used to rest on his head.
Anyway, I grabbed hold of my friend's question as a gentle reminder that life does indeed have to go on. And here is my list of what I'm planting this year: various tomatoes, three kinds of cucumbers, zucchini, kale, lettuce, spinach, onions, sweet potatoes, Shishito peppers, basil, parsley, garlic, and chia (and raspberries, strawberries, and rhubarb). Every year I also like to try new things, and this year there are three: black lentils ordered from Nova Scotia, Delicata squash, which is sort of like butternut, and Good King Henry, which is a perennial green.
I'm planning to build some frames to fit over my raised beds to make it easier to toss insect netting or shade cloth over them. I anticipate this summer will be extremely hot, which seems to be the norm, so shade will probably be necessary.
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