A Pacific Northwest spring garden

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we have the luxury of being able to grow and harvest vegetables nine months of the year, with a little planning and some gardening aids. In early spring, I'm able to pick the over-wintered and perennial vegetables. By starting seeds indoors under lights, and by using row covers in the garden, I will have the winter-sown veggies to harvest later in April and into May.

The over-wintered plantings

In late summer to early fall, I can plant several vegetables which, most years, will survive through winter, and give us an early spring harvest.

Although we had some severe cold spells this winter for our region, the kale survived quite well. I've been picking this over-wintered kale for meals on a daily basis.

In the same bed as the kale, the shallots and garlic are all looking good. Both were planted in October. The greens can be cut and used to add flavor to soups and salads.

Some of the Swiss chard also over-wintered. The plants are still small, but will be harvest-size in about 2-3 weeks.

Only 2 parsley plants made it through the winter. But this should be enough for spring cutting. Parsley is biennial. It will grow for a couple more months, then go to seed.

The perennial plantings

Nothing could be easier than perennials in the garden. Plant them once and they return reliably with no effort on my part.

The chives are growing vigorously. I added a handful to some homemade tomato soup (from canned tomato paste) that went with last night's dinner.

The sorrel looks good. Young sorrel is mild and tender. I make cream of sorrel soup a few times each spring.

Technically these are not perennials, but they self-seed every year. So still effortless for me. It's hard to tell, but all these little sprouts are watercress, which sows freely in parts of my garden each year. I'll thin the plants as the season progresses, and have watercress leaves to add to sandwiches and salads in about 2-3 weeks.

Spring-planted veggies

Daytime highs are around 53-54 F and overnight lows hovering right around the 40 degree F mark in my garden. These temps are just barely warm enough for seeds and plants to grow, here.

I've got my transplanted lettuce seedlings under a row cover for protection from the cold. I'll begin harvesting for salads in about 4 weeks. I started these plants under lights indoors, in February.

The peas are up. Pea tendrils can be added to stir-fries and salads in the early season. Then in summer, we'll have snow and snap peas to enjoy.

Beneath the soil surface, I seeded a bed full of spinach, a patch of beets and a patch of mustard greens. The spinach and mustard greens will be done in time for later spring plantings of warm weather veggies.

Strawberries and rhubarb

We added another strawberry bed two weeks ago. My son built the bed, and he and my husband positioned it. Later that day, my husband and daughters filled it with soil and transplanted wayward strawberry plants into the bed. At this point, we have 5 strawberry beds. We plan to add 1 more bed next spring.

The rhubarb is looking good. I should be able to cut rhubarb near the end of April.


By combining over-wintering, perennials and early spring sown plants, our garden can provide us with fresh vegetables as early as March each year. Such as blessing to have garden-fresh veggies after a winter of frozen, canned and long-storage ones.

Larger gardens, and those which receive more sunlight than ours, can support even more over-wintered vegetables, such as broccoli and Brussels sprouts (my neighbor down the street has a patch of Brussels sprouts that are still harvestable). There's even a variety of carrots than can over-winter and provide spring harvests.

Although it's still quite rainy and cool, spring is my favorite time of year for gardening. Everything just coming up, new sprouts to be discovered -- it all feels like something of a treasure hunt when I venture into the spring garden.

Weddings, humor and a realistic attitude

So, weddings have been a topic of conversation in our house lately. My kids have a cousin getting married next month, combined with the recent announcement of average amount of money spent on a wedding in the US, have fueled these conversations. $30,000 is now the average amount spent on a wedding in the US!

The Humor

As my daughters were outlining just what they each wanted, one of them stopped mid-sentence and asked, "wait, who pays for the wedding? Oh shoot! The bride's parents!" I just thought that was so funny. The look on her face when she made the realization that she DID NOT have a $30,000 budget to spend on her future (far into the future) wedding, was priceless. She knows me all too well.

The Realistic Attitude

$30,000 is a lot of money. $30,000 can pay for a really good 4-year education. $30,000 can be a down payment on a house or a condo (depending on where you live). $30,000 can buy 2 cars. $30,000 can put a new roof not just on one house, but on a couple of houses. $30,000 is simply out of line for a one-day celebration, considering what else that $30,000 can buy.

Granted, a wedding is a big thing to be celebrated. But it needn't cost MY arm and MY leg. And it certainly should NOT put a newlywed couple into debt. Believe it or not, the bills for many of these expensive weddings aren't being footed by a Daddy Warbucks. But they're being charged on the couple's credit cards. Starting out a marriage in unnecessary debt could put a real strain on the relationship from the get-go. Ouch! My head hurts thinking about such foolishness!

When the dollar signs are in my kids eyes

So, how do I plan on handling this with my own kids? Well, I think we've laid the groundwork already, by talking about finances and value on a regular basis. When one daughter wanted an ipod nano (used, off of craigslist), she was spending her own money. Yet still I asked her, "will you get $45 or $50 worth of entertainment from that? What other entertainment could you get for that same $45 or $50? This is your money. Is there something bigger you'd like to save for? A car, perhaps?" I ask these kind of questions on a regular basis. Sometimes my kids stop and think, then change their minds. Sometimes they firm up their desire for spending their money. But in all cases, they think about it, and make a mindful choice in the end.

What I don't want for my kids is for them to feel that they have to "settle" for a poorman's wedding. Even though they are years away from any wedding plans, we've had a few conversations about what would make them feel special on their wedding day. Nothing has to be done a certain way. They can pick and choose just what elements would make memories to hold onto. And a small budget can indeed create a grand celebration with wonderful memories.

Too often, frugality can leave people (kids especially) feeling deprived and poor. In all areas, we've tried to demonstrate to our kids that we are constantly making choices about how to spend our money. Wedding planning offers a bazillion opportunities to talk about value for dollar spent. But the planning begins now, long before they lay eyes on their knight in shining armor. Discussions about thoughtful use of money aren't limited to wedding plans.

I ended the wedding conversation with a few sentences. "This is all fun to talk about, but for now, your focus is on your studies. Get an education that will lay the foundation for your career, first. Your opportunity for an education is right now, these 4 years. The opportunity to find a mate will span many, many years."

I don't know how much we'll actually contribute to any of our kids weddings. But I do know that the figure will be a fraction of the cost of the so-called average American wedding.

What ways have you seen or used yourself to reduce the cost of a wedding, while creating a lovely day to be remembered?