Armchair Gardening

It's that time of year again when the seed and gardening catalogs pile up in the mailbox. I like to lie back on the couch with catalog in hand and plan my spring garden. I have already been to my local seed store and mail ordered most of what I need for the season. Very soon, I will plant peas in my zone 6b garden but first I must prepare the soil. Just the other day we had a balmy sunny day with a high temperature of 60 degrees fahrenheit. (That's 15.55 degrees celsius for those of you on the metric system.) I took my rear tine tiller out for a spin and opened up a new patch of fallow land.  I just teased up the grass and worked the top 2 inches of soil a bit to open it up so that it could dry out a bit quicker. The next good day I get when the soil surface is dry, I'll finish the job and get my outdoor peas planted.  Until then, I'll keep trowel in hand and continue to prep my double poly 20x96 foot unheated hoophouse. Seedlings are quietly growing on a heated bench so that I can begin planting the cold frame as soon as possible. Happy planting!