Why I Oughta...

Last year, I planted a few rows of carrots via seeds, but because they were so small, I ended up with way too many seedlings spaced way too close together .  This year, I'm using a little bit of technology in the shape of 'seed tape' that will make planting these beauties a bit easier.    I'm going to focus on the root vegetables this year and pare back the tomato varieties in the garden.

All it took was an electric light parade to keep both of these ladies up way past their bedtime.

These fine gentlemen were out delivering new recycling toters on our block earlier today.  We're upgrading from bins.  When we moved in, we didn't get an official bin for our recycling, so we just used a normal garbage can with a sticker on it.  These new toters are going to be a nice improvement.

In addition to the shade bulbs I'm going to put in the ground , we also grabbed this 'container garden' set of bulbs that includes Golden Balcony Begonias, White Christmas Caladium, and Wide Brim Hostas.  I've had Caladium in the past and I *think* that I put them directly in the ground one spring.  They bloomed, but never came back.  Based on their hardiness, I'm thinking that by putting these in a pot and bringing that pot into the garage over the winter might be helpful to having them succeed.  I think I'll go that route with all three, but I'm tempted to just put the hostas in the ground like I've done with every other hosta I've ever dealt with in the yard.

Earlier this week, we picked up a few different bags of bulbs including this one which includes three varieties of shade perennials from Costco.  This one includes six Bressingham Blue Hostas, five Ostrich Ferns, and seven Federsee Astilbe plants.  These will go on the north line of our yard, both in front of and behind the fence/gate that separates our yard.  All three of these are called out in our landscape plan , so once the ground thaws, we'll move some dirt and get these going for the year.    I'm guessing that we won't have much luck with them in year one (this summer), but my experience with transplanting hostas says that we'll have strong plants in year two.

Pasted above the paper towels in the bathroom of Aurelio's in LaGrange was this sign advertising a Soppressatta contest - which required contestants to bring two pre-sliced logs to enter. Tickets are $25 in advance and there are trophies and prizes.  I had no idea that there were enough home-made/DIY Soppressatta makers in the western suburbs to warrant a contest. With a simple Google search, it turns out Frank Balestri, the host for the contest calls himself the SodFather.  But...no not *that* SodFather .   Chicagoist has a video of his process .   Turns out, the Soppressatta is called "Sods". Guess I'll have to learn how to make the stuff?  April 17th will be tough, right?

The monster storm we've been bracing for today looks like is actually arriving.  They're calling for 10 inches, so we have a long way to go, but the snow hasn't stopped since it started falling.