Way too funny! I found many, many things that apply to me lol! I especially like the one where you are driving down the road and almost crash into a tree because you are trying to see other peoples gardens! lolololol! That definitely describes me! I almost back ended someone while trying to turn my head 360 degrees to see someones garden! lol You know you are addicted to gardening when you sit outside at work during a break and think about what else needs to be done in the garden that day and week. And, yes my bathroom has lots of reading material of the gardening type! My hubby thinks I'm nuts!

We have been eating almost daily leaf lettuce (Red Sails and several other varieties from Park Seeds' Master Chef Blend), cilantro, several varieties of spinach, a Mesclun mixture of greens and carrots. For cooking, I planted a seed mix of mustard, turnip, kale, arrugula and several others that I got in the hardware store while on vacation in New Bern back in September. The proprietor said that the previous owner had been mixing this formula for years and he had so many requests that he continued it when he took over. I have been using floating row cover fabric when the weather is in the low 30's and covering this with plastic when it is going to be below freezing like tonight. I recently bought a copy of Elliot Coleman's book and am already planning a hoop house and to expand my winter gardening to include many other greens and root crops, especially Chinese varieties.

Konrad, that does make for a nice raised bed :) With having a large yard and well amended relatively weed free productive soil, I hadn't looked into using the bale method and had wondered why anyone would even bother ... though, last night I had watched several videos and my thoughts had changed as I observed the benefits to be had under certain circumstances and am now "almost" tempted to try it with some peppers, as I guess they do especially well when bale grown. Mmmm, I do have some two year old bales sitting at the back of my yard, but I'd be more inclined to do as Konrad's posted photo, because I'd like for the plants to draw the nutrients from the soil, rather than me having to be dosing the bales with fertilizer. Peppers require very good drainage and this would certainly provide for such and requires no carpentry skills of needing to cut and nail a bunch of boards together :)

I'm jealous! My fall planted greens, brussel sprouts and broccoli kept the squirrels well fed in the lean months, and the remaining plants all look pitiful by now. One thing I've noticed about winter gardens, though, is that with 14 hours of darkness, plants just don't get any growth in December and January. Your soil also sounds like it would be great for peanuts, too. As a transplanted southerner, I've been hankering for some boiled peanuts, but out here I can never find the raw nuts to make them. I would try to grow them, but I think they would become more squirrel food. If your garden is pest free, you are very lucky. I do a lot of indoor gardening in the winter, putting herbs and tomatoes in south-facing windows and supplementing their natural light with CFCs. Nothing cheers me up like the sight of blossoming tomato plants! I just found the planting calendar linked below recently. I like the level of detail on it and it works for me as long as I slide the outdoor transplant times to accomodate the fact that we are in a basin at 2500'. Cold from all directions slides right down the hill sides and settles in my yard. I think I really have split zone weather...Zone 18 in the Spring and Fall and zone 11 in the winter and summer. Good luck with those southside plants. I'm using that spot as a warm harbor for some tubs of strawberry plants now, but because we DO have hot very hot weather in the middle of the day from June 15 forward, I' grow sunflowers and morning glories as summer shade for the walls on that side. Do you know what kind of lettuce you want to grow for your hot weather experiment? I saw that Swallowtail Gardens has some heat resistant SummerCrisp varieties that might be worth trying. Here is a link that might be useful: Desert Planting Calendar