To hell, then heaven and back; now holding a Map. (for the garden)

This has been an interesting, no - *interesting* season for me. I do desire a life experience that touches the full range of human emotions, and well, the Universe listens to earnest requests.

Right after my last post, a horrible earthquake leveled much of Haiti. I traveled there immediately to cover it for the Globe (I was embedded with a disaster response medical team). It was a deep long look straight into Hell. Here are some of my videos I did there. The first one is a recap of my experience there.

And then I came home to my blessed world. Back to my husband, our cat (who eats special canned food!), healthy friends, a house! The stark contrast had me in shock. But I soaked it all back in like a wrung-out sponge and happiness rescued me from the darkness I'd seen. The next video I created was a lark - a personal, silly video valentine for Erik that I'm happy to embarrass myself with here:

Really, you don't have to watch it!

And then something very personal and profound happened in my life that is a bit too raw to share, but it forced me back into the arms of something grounding by its very nature: garden planning. Which is why I write today. I am happily announcing the Citylovescountry Gardens of 2010:

Click on a map to enlarge it if you can't read the type and you're curious.

But anyway, the plan is:

1. Start inside immediately: kale, tomatoes, pak choi (a Chinese cabbage)
2. Plant outdoors in early March: arugula, spinach, chard, carrots
3. Plant outdoors in mid/late March: lettuce, beets, Pak Choi (from transplant), kale (from transplant), cilantro, mint, potatoes, asparagus (from starts)
4. Start indoors in mid/late March: peppers (all), eggplant, ground cherries, basil
5. Plant in containers in April: rosemary, oregano
6. Plant outdoors mid May: tomatoes (from transplant), corn, sunflowers, cucumbers, squash (both), zucchini, strawberries, dill, lima beans, purple pole beans
7. Plant in late May: peppers and eggplant (both from transplants)

OK, sure, we all expect to see plants and veggies, etc. But I've been teasing you (and myself) about something else for a long time now. Something a bit louder, eggier, with feathers.

Enter, the Buff Orpingtons!!! (that's not mine; I stole the picture fair and square from here).

And here is where they're going to live:

Mark King of King's Berry Farm in East Brookfield, MA (508-867-9222) is going to build it for us for a very reasonable price. He's even going to customize it to fit between our garage and our fence. He's fantastic!

So we're super psyched and going to get started right away with preparations this weekend.

The chicks are coming! The chicks are coming!!

Details to follow soon . . .