The Yet Distant, but Surely Coming Spring

“There is always in February some one day, at least, when one smells the yet distant, but surely coming spring”

Gertrude Jekyll

A few days ago Mother Nature gifted the Northeast with a teaser of the coming Spring. Since that glorious spike in warm weather, I’ve noticed early signs of the coming spring; Crocus buds just breaking the surface soil and Tulip buds discovered yesterday while cleaning up the garden. It has been a miserable, unrelenting winter and the state of the garden reflected the impact of ice, snow and high winds.  Restoring the garden after such a winter is energetic and dirty work; calling on Colbert to help out was not a viable option.

I’m pleased to see the Tulips making their entrance in this bed. After checking other tulip beds and containers, I found  one bed where the soil was frozen solid. Crossing my fingers to see if the bulbs survived this deep freeze, if all goes well, beautiful deep purple and pink tulips should emerge from that bed. The tulip buds pictured below are a grouping tulips arranged in rows of alternating red and white tulips.

In case you are wondering, yes, I went a wee bit overboard with tulip bulbs last fall. If all goes according to plan the garden will explode with colorful tulips…or not.

The first of the seeds of the 2011 growing season began their growing journey this weekend. The following seeds planted on Feb 19th include:

Persimmon Tomato – Renee’s Garden
Costoluto Tomato – Renee’s Garden
Chianti Rose Tomato – Renee’s Garden
Scallion Onion – Cooks Garden
Jewel Toned Beets – Renee’s Garden
Sweet Peas (Cupid) – Renee’s Garden
Texas Early Grano 502 PRR Onion – Victory Seed Company
Burrell’s Yellow Valencia Onion – Victory Seed Company
White Sweet Spanish Onion – Victory Seed Company

Onions starting  from seeds, not bulbs, is one of the great experiments for this year.  This is the year of heirloom tomatoes, colorful cauliflower and rainbow bell peppers.  Stay tuned for more colorful developments!

Valentine’s Day Fun Run With Philadelphia Runner

Valentine’s Day Fun Run report.

Philly’s premier running store, Philadelphia Runner, hosted a Valentine’s Day 5K fun run followed by dinner, drinks and music.

The run began at 6 dark pm, starting at the store at 16th and Samson with a comfortable loop around the Schuylkill banks to the Parkway and ending at Philadelphia Runner.  It is an easy run for one accustomed to running in dense urban areas with cars, curbs, scaffolding and traffic lights. That person is not me.  The trail was completely unfamiliar and it was nighttime.

Not surprisingly,  I lost my way when I separated from the pack and ran a little over 4 miles, if one is to believe Nike+ readings, before returning to the store.

It was a perfect night for a run, with a brisk breeze and city lights reflecting off the Schuylkill river,  it was simply magical. I could have run for some time on that trail, however, food, drink and music called me back to the store.

The sweaty band pictured above worked perfectly – it did not move at all. I give the product two thumbs up. Oh, I love black running shirts, they scream don’t mess with this runner. Grrrr!

Garden Update

Not a lot of activity, other than predictions of more snow in the near future. Buried under the snow are dozens of tulips just waiting for Spring. I keep telling myself that and it doesn’t work. Spring cannot arrive soon enough!

On sure sign of the coming spring is the arrival of seed packets. An order from Cook’s Garden arrived and it made my week! Spend a good part of the day charting when the seeds are to be planted. I go old school with this project, using a notebook and pencil to plot out month by month which seeds need planting.

Broad Street Run Training Program

Received my copy of the Philly Team training schedule for the Broad Street Run. Three times a week, no more than 4-5 miles at a time. The kickoff event scheduled for February 26th will be here sooner that I realize. Time to get running!

I can do this. Watch me 🙂

Yeah! Moo Cards Have Arrived!

Despite the snow and ice, my beautiful Moo business cards arrived today. These cards, made from 100% Post Consumer Waste are FSC certified. Not only are they green..they are gorgeous! The color saturation of the images printed on the cards is remarkable. The cards themselves feel sturdy to the touch, no different from the many business cards loitering about my desk.

I give these cards two green thumbs up!

When looking for business cards, look no further than Moo.

Pretty:

and Green!