because I need some garden porn

   I...am still down in the dumps, fighting another sinus/ear infection (it's not bad enough that I'm ready to throw in the towel and take antibiotics yet, I mean, in theory half of ear infections resolve on their own, right?), my eyes are bothering me (but I don't want to talk about it), and work is very work-y (I am solely in charge of completing a Very Big Project, which everyone seems to think I'm doing a great job of, and I am, but it's giving me agida because we have a deadline and I can't do the WHOLE thing without other people's participation and I haven't specifically asked but probably PseudoCorp would frown on it if I roamed the cubicles on my floor with a stick prodding people who aren't getting back to me) (yes, I can be a TEENY bit goal-obsessed when I am working on something big).

   I need some garden porn to cheer me up. 

   I don't think I ever specifically mentioned it to y'all en masse (although I've talked about it with some of you), but LeaseGate 2012 reached a peaceful conclusion involving the magical cooperation of my landlord and my ex-husband BOTH at the SAME TIME. I know, I'm shocked too! The key to handling the XY, maddeningly enough, was for me to remove myself from the communication process and have Hotter be the MFA Mouthpiece. See, the XY is one of those narcissists who have a desperate need to be widely-liked, and only shits on people who know him intimately, and while I no longer think that applies to me, apparently I've been grandfathered or something because he will still nut up and scream at me and be utterly horrid. With Hotter, however, he's still trying to do that thing he often did with great success during our marriage, namely to convince the third party he's just the nicest guy alive and I am some kind of crazypants whackjob for thinking ill of him because LOOK HOW NICE, SEE HIM SMILING AND OFFERING TO HELP YOU MOVE? Of course Hotter knows this is bullshit, and dislikes the XY thoroughly, but if HE flat-out asks the XY to do something like pay the child support, or make a pharmacy run for a sick child while I am at work, or keep his word on the extra $50 a month to let us stay in this house, it's all "of COURSE! GLADLY! You look fabulous, have you been working out?" Barf.

   The upshot of the ludicrous mindfuck of that whole paragraph up there is that we're not moving, and I have a garden to plan! I ALMOST bought seeds and stuff the day before Leasegate 2012 erupted, and am kind of glad I didn't because I don't just want to grow whatever is the seed catalog with the best sale. I want to grow FABULOUS THINGS! To that end, if you grow vegetables, what are your favorite varieties and why? What is a fabulous producer/super-cool looking/damn-near-impossible-to-kill? I am intrigued by Novella Carpenter's Triamble squash...has anyone ever grown those? Last year I did Royalty Purple Pod string beans and they were good but not the best producers...what bush beans have y'all planted with good results? Tell me your gardening stories!

   And now I have to go and eat something and get ready for an early bedtime, because I am working New Weekend Warrior Job tomorrow at an obscenely early hour. Ole!

Comments

[Katie]

I would offer some suggestions, but I suspect what grows well in our windswept Welsh valley might not be the same as what grows well in your garden!

[marguerite]

We're looking to buy a place with land for a garden and maybe next year I can give you some thoughts about fabulous things. But I have always been interested in growing Jerusalem artichokes because I love to eat them.

[winecat]

Lemon cucumbers, yum

[K]

I am VERY HAPPY that LeaseGate ended quietly and smoothly.

Speaking of smooth, it is appears that Hotter is TRES smooth when it comes to the XY.