We're back! Having been saved from a harrowing computer incident, we can now once again turn ourselves to our special purpose...food!

And O, the times and decisions that are upon us. The mayhem and the madness. What KIND of peppers and tomatoes shall we choose to grow? Poblanos...sweet...how many? Okra this year? The Rutgers tomatoes were capital last year, Romas are always useful, but oh those seductive heirloom Cherokee Purples.

What makes it worse, of course, are the titillating language and photos: "Large, dark and purple, this beauty from Tennessee is rumored to have come from Cherokee gardeners. The flavor is rich and full, the flesh is brick-red and very attractive sliced across a plate."

Irresistible. We checked in with our grower buddies to see what has captured their fancy this year. Greens are already up, under the protective plastic of the houses. Cathy Redman of Redman Farms emails that they "already have crops up in the greenhouse. Lettuces, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, collards, celery." As far as tomatoes go, no heirlooms, more of the big boys/beefsteaks.

Sharon Lankford of Davon Crest II has a CSA in Trappe, MD, and delivers to restaurants, including A Cook's Café in Annapolis. She reports that "we're planning the crops for spring and will have more beans, peas, various varieties of peppers and eggplants to choose from. We found a Ruby (red) sweet corn last year and will plant more this year for (our) CSA — as well as bi-color. We will have a few heirloom tomatoes, but more slicing ones than last year. Also — peanuts. And as always, micro greens, pea shoots, lettuces, rainbow Swiss chard, a variety of greens, radishes, melons, herbs, potatoes..." and the list goes on. Want to know more about them? Send us a note and we'll pass along more info.

And in a final note about garden fever, we're pleased to discover that the White House kitchen will now have its own garden. According to the article in the Washington Post, the 1,100 square foot garden will have 55 kinds of vegetables. The "selection is a wish list put together by White House chefs." Can you imagine the top-seeded favorites for this one? Let the games begin!

There's almost no sign left of the nine inches of snow from less than a week ago.

Quite the opposite. Temperatures are in the sixties — and the hundreds of Canada geese that have been gathering and yakking it up in our little cove for the past few weeks, debating their flight paths and flying order, seem to have resolved their differences and put plans into action. They up and left. If so, it was a full week before their departure last year.
I think I heard them leave just before sun-up a few days ago, with a final chorus of whoops. Yes, geese still pour in at night, but they seem like confused out-of-towners trying to find a cheap hotel without any reservations.

So perhaps I should say...our geese have gone. That means the wheel of time has turned. The osprey have returned. We have wild aerial battles between bald eagles, either sorting out their territory or their love interests. Spring is almost here.

I wonder what the Native Americans who lived on this little sandy knoll over the river must have thought when a prime food source simply flew off. Especially when growing green things are still weeks away. They must have sighed and thought...well, that's it then. Back to clams and rabbits. And maybe bullrushes, and undoubtedly venison...and hey, the perch and shad are running, get out the fishnets. There is no rest for the wickedly hungry.

Coming up: The annual thrill of Seed Catalogs!