The resilience of strawberries

Last summer, I learned that strawberries are some of the most resilient plants in the world. It got hot in Seattle, and my many of the leaves on my plants had died. It looked like my strawberries were dying, but for some reason, I left the plants in their containers. After a few weeks of intermittent watering, new green growth started appearing. One plant shot out a runner that tried to put out roots in my yard! And I ate lovely red berries all through October.

I need some of my strawberries' resilience right now. My boyfriend of 1.5 years, the one who suggested I try to garden veggies, broke up with me on Friday night. I won't go into the details, but it was hard, and it was sad. And I wasn't ready for it to end yet. Sometimes God puts blessings in difficult places, and every day I have new plants sprouting. The radishes got in on the act the other day, and more and more of my tomatoes are coming out of the soil and saying hello to the world. I have amazing, wonderful friends who are giving me a lot of love and support. My parents live in town, too, and I'm so glad I can easily come home for a few days of Mom's home cooking, Dad's Sunday morning omelettes, and my brother's awesomeness.

I know that I'm pretty resilient. And I know, also, that it's going to take a long time for my own new green growth to appear. But it'll happen.

Anyway, I am glad I have little green things shooting up out of the ground right now. Have you ever seen a plant grow from seed? It's so cool! One day, there's this little green hoop poking out of the soil, and the next -- sproutling! Kind of amazing how a five-foot tall tomato plant emerges from something so tiny.

Oh -- and today, I protected my raised bed from the local cat who thought it was his litterbox with Critter Ridder. This stuff worked really well last summer -- it kept animals from eating my veggies. It's perfectly safe, and humane. It's mostly cayenne pepper, which makes animals sneeze. You shake it around the perimeter of your garden every month. Local critters quickly learn not to bother your garden bed, as they don't like sneezing! Great stuff.

OK. Time to go watch "The Hurt Locker" with Dad. Definitely the least romantic movie I could think of.
-- Anna

HARVESTING
Lacinato Kale
Oregano

OVERWINTERING
Walla Walla Sweet Onions

GROWING
No new varieties here!

JUST PLANTED (less than one month)
Champion radish (heirloom)
Mesclun blend lettuce
Freckles lettuce
Marconi red pepper (heirloom)
Oregon sugar pod pea
Rhubarb chard
Sugar Daddy snap pea
Broad Windsor fava beans
North Star sweet bell pepper
Carouby de Maussane snow pea
Sungold tomato
Celebrity tomato
Red, Yellow, and Pink Brandywine tomatoes (heirloom)
Yellow pear tomato (heirloom)
Rainbow heirloom mix tomatoes (heirloom)