Guest post: Kerry Michaels
Kerry Michaels writes about container gardening on line for About.com, and she can make her pots fruit and flower as if she were gardening on a plantation.
Though she works in small spaces, she has a big appetite for plants and vegetables, and she is just as likely to be overwhelmed by all the garden catalogs that arrive this month as the rest of us.
Here are Kerry's thoughts on "catalog panic." Ok, everybody...Take a deep breath...
Right about now I start a love/hate relationship with my mailbox. Each day it is filled with gardening catalogs of all kinds. They sit like flat Pandora’s boxes, each with its force field of temptation, daring me to open them. And then when I do, I am simultaneously smitten and panic-stricken.
There are so many plants out there, that no matter how much space, money or time, it would be impossible to grow them all. Just deciding what kinds of tomatoes to grow can make me want to take to my bed in a fit of indecision. Last year, trying to choose tomatoes, I became so flummoxed, that I appealed to tomato guru, Brad Gates of Wild Boar Farms, begging him to put me out of my tomato misery and just surprise me with a variety of his favorite seeds. He did and I was saved.
This year I bought a portable greenhouse on Craig’s List. I knew this was a hazardous proposition, because even though the greenhouse was cheap, it would open the door to starting even more seeds than the ridiculous amount I started last year. And seed packets are relatively cheap, so the plant-to-pleasure ratio can get warped really fast.
So it’s only January and I have already become glassy eyed and borderline catatonic, searching through seed and garden catalogs trying to decide between the overwhelming possibilities. Just this morning, when trying to decide between buddleias, I became a veritable deer in the headlights (albeit with a credit card). Who knew it could be so dangerous just getting the mail?
Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Algerina Perna
Comments
Such a fun read! You describe the mania exactly. I am totally with you, Kerry. Happy Sprouting.
I am, too, Laura. She's right about the trip to the mailbox!--Susan
Posted by: Laura Mathews | January 14, 2010 7:48 AM
Ah, catalog catatonia, I know thee well. I'm going through the same thing. What's more, this is the first year I'm planning on growing veggies of any kind, and THAT, as you can imagine, has opened a whole new Pandora's box.
Thanks, Susan, for including Kerry here! I enjoy you both.
Andrew. I agree! I am trying to write about starting a veggie garden for the first time and I truly don't know where to begin with the whole seed thing!!!--Susan
Posted by: Andrew Keys | January 14, 2010 11:21 AM
Kerry, you're not alone! I have a big stack of those catalogs sitting in my office right now calling me to open them up and place an order. It is a little daunting isn't it? But come next December, we'll be looking forward to their arrival all over again. Won't we? Best of luck!
Posted by: Scott Hokunson | January 14, 2010 11:39 AM
I barely have a square inch of land left to plant anything but I still look at seed catalogues ... my sister has space in her garden. (Squash, pumpkins and cucumbers are the most fun because they grow so fast and are so lush ... )
Posted by: Kari Lønning | January 14, 2010 8:23 PM
Thanks, Susan, for including Kerry in Garden Variety. I enjoy her just about everywhere! But with those catalogs comes the promise of Spring, no?! Every mid-Atlantic gardener needs that!
You have that right!--Susan
Posted by: Kim Brix | January 17, 2010 6:56 PM
Thanks for all your support. I have come out from hiding under my desk, though have still not ordered a single seed. I may need an intervention (or a perscription) before I'm capable of doing that.
Step away from the catalogs. Slowly, slowly..Susan
Posted by: Kerry | January 19, 2010 8:48 PM