back yard on a chilly, windy Jan 1, 2024.

Happy New Year! I am not sure where 2023 went, but here we are, like it or not!

I really don’t do resolutions - there is no need because I have a planning/task driven tendency (for better or for worse) which keeps me moving forward. With age and retirement the “must do” list really does get much shorter. Whatever doesn’t get done today just gets moved to tomorrow - which I suppose is just another way to think of procrastination! For example, as I set to embark on getting envelopes stuffed with requested seeds, that perfectly depicts procrastination - I had hoped to have all seeds sent by Christmas. Let’s call it by mid January instead!

My thoughts about 2024 are pretty relaxed. If there is a major objective, it is to make significant progress on the Dwarf Tomato Project book. I’ve got a set of garden workshops in my calendar - I’ll outline them at the end of this blog entry. There will be involvement with the Veterans Healing Farm, the specifics to be determined. I will have a garden, but despite the disbelief expressed by many of my friends, it will represent a significant reduction in size and complexity. It just feels like time to do so. I do expect to continue with Instagram Lives from my yard, with frequency and timing to be determined. I expect to do garden planning in January, seed starting in early March, strawbale prep in early April, and planting in early May. I will blog on my specific plans (varieties, crops) later on in the winter.

We will take a week to go to Ocracoke in May with our kayaks - we miss that little island so much and it will be good to return (though we realize it will be haunted by the ghosts of our 2 chocolate labs, Buddy and Mocha, that accompanied us there for so many vacations some years ago).

Mostly, I look forward to another year of hiking with Sue our dogs, lots of hours sitting in our comfy chairs listening to great music and interesting podcasts and audiobooks. We will seek things to watch (we are on the last season of Slow Dogs - not the best thing we’ve seen, but quite good).

Fall will likely see left knee replacement surgery, which I had scheduled for last December but decided to delay. It has to happen sooner or later if I want to keep gardening and hiking.

My last thoughts as we all embark on 2024 - I so appreciate having so many gardening friends and such support for my endeavors. Not saving tons of seed, not leading a complex breeding project, not ending up with a significant list of seed requests by the end of 2024 will be a big change, but I am ready for it. It is encouraging to see in many of my younger friends the seeds of continuing and furthering some of the things I was deeply involved in, putting their own personal twists on things. That is perhaps the most important thing of all.

Just a small part of my reorganized seed collection. I’ll be going through these to fulfill seed requests and carry out seed staring (when the time is right)

As promised, here is a list of events I have on my calendar. I am not sure which of these may be open for registration beyond the organizing group, but will let you know as each approaches.

January 16 - WI MG Zoom, topic Strawbale and container gardening, 7:30 PM eastern (closed event, no wider attendance possible) (completed)

January 18 - The Growing Space podcast recording (my friend Erin Hostetler, The Patio Gardener’s new podcast) - I’ll let you know when this runs and how to listen (recorded - will air in the spring - more info to follow)

February 3 - central IL MG Zoom on Tomatoes - time TBD - I will confirm whether it is open to others to join - 10 AM

February 10 - Greater Greenville (SC) MG SC symposium - giving two talks (tomatoes and containers/strawbales). Event requires registration - see the link. It is apparently sold out.

February 21 - 56th Annual Winter Vegetable Conference, Asheville NC - Dwarf Tomato Breeding Project - Event requires registration - see the link.

February 21 - Hardy Plant Society, mid Atlantic group Zoom, talking tomatoes, 6:30 PM. Not sure if it is open for others to join

March 4 - Peters Township Public Library, McMurray PA Zoom - straw bale and container gardening - 6 PM. Not sure if it is open for others to join.

March 16 - Veterans Healing Farm, History of Gardening in America - 10 AM, Johnson Farm off of Haywood Road

March 19 - Hendersonville Public Library - Gardening with Containers and Strawbales - 5:30 PM, free

March 20 - Sonoma County CA MG Zoom - tomatoes - 8 PM eastern

March 27 - Sow True Seeds - containers and straw bales - 5 PM - I will post registration link when available.

April 5 - Veterans Healing Farm - Strawbales and containers, at the farm on Yale Road - more info to follow

April 6 - Central Oregon MG Zoom - tomatoes - 1 PM Oregon time, 4 PM eastern.

April 8 - VA Beach MG Zoom - tomatoes - time TBD

April 20 - Morganton - containers and straw bales - much more info to come

May 14 -Veterans Healing Farm - tomatoes - Yale Road location - more info to follow

September 12 - Brevard train depot, strawbales and containers - more info to follow

October 9 - WNC MG Symposium - Hendersonville - tomatoes; time TBD.

Possible participation in other podcasts, such as Joe Lamp’l, possible additional workshops at Sow True Seeds, and unforeseen requests are all possible - check back for updates.