Tag Archives: Ostara

Merry meet all,

I am so done with mundane society. I desperately want to move to Middle Earth and be an elf- and I want there to be no Sauron ruling the world there either. I’m ready to go, all packed. Oh I wish I could. Don’t we all? Instead, I am stuck in this mortal realm. But is it really that bad? My rent increased but not to an astronomical height thankfully. There is hope yet despite wars, starvation, crime, drugs, poverty, weapons blasting buildings, desperation, environmental degradation, pollution, climate change. I have to believe there is yet hope. The odds seem stacked against us but if we lose hope, then the bad guys win.

I find joy in my sweet cat, watching birds visit the bird feeder, and in knowing spring will soon grace us with her return. The Crone will eventually give way to the Maiden. The earth will turn green again and be full of fertile energy. Yes spring equinox surprises us next month. It almost seems hard to believe. I hate it that my tired feet suffer over hard packed snow too. I miss my garden so much. Feeding the birds and helping my herb seedlings I have been growing all winter comforts me.

Today I bought a bag of soil for starting seeds and a large white bucket. I plan to begin my onion seeds soon as well as other herbs. My seed starting project with the ziplock bags is going well. The mint seeds, the marshmallow seeds have taken off so far and one purple basil seed germinated. The other seeds are germinating much slower. I like to start seeds in ziplock bags that way because I can know for sure then what the germination rate is. I can’t wait for spring. I am sure I am not the only one.

The interior of my apartment looks like a smaller Middle Earth. I am sure I belong there. Alas, spring equinox begins in March on the 21st. We can move our clocks ahead one hour in March. March means spring and I can’t wait. I know March is also the cruelest month weather wise and so is April but after that, the world gets green. 

I have been thinking hard about where I will grow my onions and potatoes this summer. I can grow the potatoes in grow bags. I have to buy another grow bag because then I can get a bigger harvest. I am not sure yet where I will grow my onions. I have time yet to decide that. This is the time when most gardeners who are serious about gardening decide those sorts of things though. I wish I had the room for growing a hundred potatoes and onions. I would be stocked all winter. I have only a small space. I am growing garlic too. I decided that I want to grow purple onions in between the rows where the garlic is growing in the box. I have yet to decide where I might grow the white onions though. Then there is the matter of growing root veggies successfully. Only too often I get the greens of the root veggie but not the root I want. But now, thanks to a hurricane ironically, a large branch has fallen off the nearby tree in my garden. So now my garden gets more light which it needs. As for the soil itself, I have successfully created compost. I also plan to really dig the soil and add the right nutrients in the right amounts. I also want to grow the onions in containers as the rest of the space is claimed by herbs. So, it is probably understandable that I am really thinking about where to grow the white onions. 

I want to grow carrots in the white bucket and a turnip. It can be done, I have seen it on YouTube videos. The bucket is food safe. I’m planning on starting the carrot seeds indoors and when the temperatures are warm enough, moving the white bucket outdoors. I need to get a lot of soil though. I think I can even get it at the dollar store. I do not have any fertilizer though. I can always work in the fertilizer though when I mix up the soil and water it. I can also add the ground up eggshells to the soil. The bucket is big and deep. I will need a lot. Canadian Tire, the local hardware store, did not have the large bags of soil I wanted. I can use that for the onions and my other starts. Yeah it is easy to add a fertilizer to soil. I am sure carrots are forgiving about the quality of soil they will grow in. They need nitrogen to grow the greens then they need less nitrogen to grow the root and more phosphorus later to grow the root. I plan to also cover the topsoil with shavings (for guinea pig cages) to keep the soil moist to ensure the carrots grow their very best. I can’t wait to get started. Carrots don’t like to be disturbed. I don’t see the point of thinning. I want to arrange the seeds in a way where I have control over how many sprout. I will arrange then in a clock face pattern. Thinning seeds, to me, is wasting seeds. I don’t have the money for that- basically throwing seeds away. So yeah I am excited to grow plants again! C’mon, spring!

I want to grow catnip for Penny of course. Last year, I had nettle not catnip. This year, well I should just start the seeds in a ziplock baggie. That usually tells me which seeds will germinate and which ones won’t. Of course, the flip side of this is that I have to keep the catnip away from Penny. I will start the seeds in May then. That way I don’t have a long wait to keep her away from eating it. I bought purple top white globe seeds and sweet pea seeds. I also bought ashwagandha seeds and St.John’s wort seeds. I can’t wait to start those seeds either. 

Yup I look forward to spring’s return. It feels so long ago. Time is speeding up and where it leads us to, I do not know. I had special handouts from Herbal Academy about herbs laminated at the local print centre. I plan to have a more special handouts/notes laminated. It makes it easier to refer to them and they are protected from stains too. I want to keep them in the kitchen, not just my binder to refer to. 

I have plenty to look forward to this spring! I am eager to get started. 

Blessings, Spiderwitch