The City Mouse in the Country

        Pennsylvania never changes; and this has given me anxiety.  I have a variety of wild flower and grass seed that I want to plant along the front of the porch.   I've containers ready for the few tomato's, peppers, zucchini herbs and strawberries that I am planning on growing.       I have two dogwood trees and a few flowers that I planted this past weekend.   I've never planted a tree in my life.   They are in the ground now and all I could think was " Well, it's in God's hands now."     Part of this stress and the anxiety that I feel is because of a typical Pennsylvania spring can consist of highs of 80 only to be followed by snow on the ground, often in the same day.   So if I plant to early, I risk killing the very things that I want to grow.   If I plant to late, then I worry that I won't have much of a harvest at all.        Where I live is pretty much the center of hardiness zone 5B.   According to sources that means that the first frost

      This is really the first days that feel like a spring day.  The sun is warming the air to a nice mid 60 to low 70 degrees (19 - 22 C) and a variety of songbirds are filling the skies.  I'm on my way to the Mercer County conservation district to pick up some flower and grass seed, and maybe depending on what they have left, a tree or two.    I already have plans to plant two dogwoods , they are some of my favorite flowering trees and in this case, the berries will also be edible to wildlife and humans.   The flowers and grasses that I'm on the way to pick up are all native to this area of Pennsylvania and  I'm hoping that more than a few may be edible.  I'm also ready to start a small container garden and that is happening this coming weekend.     My hope is to plant some more trees and shrubs that are edible over time, turning my yard into a garden of sorts. If I'm going to do my small part to fight climate change, I better make sure that what I plant can comb

          Recently I went out to eat with friends and I order a vegetarian option.   After getting playfully teased about eating rabbit food, the conversation turned to eating healthy, and the expenses of trying to maintain a healthy diet.     We also talked about gardening, canning, and the fact that they felt things were going to get much, much worse with the American economy.     While I am far from being a survivalist, I can honestly say that one of the reasons I want to learn to garden, to forage and store my own food is because I don't like where we as a country and as a planet are going.   No, this isn't a political blog, my concerns are more food availability and environmentally based then they are political.        If the pandemic showed us anything, it's that the supply chain can be interrupted and supplies can become diminished rather quickly.   Plus when costs raise, a common reaction is to save money where and how you can.   In this case, I'm in the perfect