What's Growing On? May 2008

Dear Johnny's Catalog Store Customers,

Spring has finally arrived. At my house it came on April 17. When I left for work in the morning, the pond out front was still half covered with ice. When I came home in the evening, the ice was gone and there was a heron standing on the edge of the pond. That night I heard the spring peepers and frogs for the first time this year. The cacophony was absolutely glorious. Maine weather never ceases to amaze me, just when I have all but given up on getting a garden in ...instant spring.

May is one of my favorite months. The daffodils and tulips are in bloom and the gardens are starting to come to life. Every time I go out in the garden, it is like meeting an old friend as more and more plants are making their appearance. Then there is the vegetable garden. The weekends have been great - knock on wood - for planting peas, fava beans, spinach, lettuce, greens, beets, carrots, and many others.

Here at Johnny’s we have had a busy spring. More and more people are feeling the pinch of what has been termed a "global food price crisis" and are planting a vegetable garden this year. This, combined with a movement to eat locally-grown food, is making people think more about the food they put on the table. The movement has grown so fast that "locavore" was named the 2007 word of the year by the Oxford University Press. For those of you who would like to eat locally-grown food but don't have time or space to plant a garden, many of the local farmers' markets will be opening this month.

For more springtime activities and ideas, please read this month's issue of "What's Growing On?"

Happy gardening,

Joann Matuzas

Johnny's Selected Seeds Catalog Store
955 Benton Ave.
Winslow, ME
04901
1-207-861-3999