oh, you betcha! (make sure you say it in a Minnesota accent)

I've been really lucky in my 8 years working at The Merc that I've gotten to travel a lot. I've been to the International Herbal Symposium in Massachusetts, 5 times to the Medicines from the Earth Conference in Black Mountain, North Carolina and 4 times to the National Co-op Grocers Association Conference in St. Paul, Minnesota. This year I decided to get a one-way ticket to the conference in Minnesota, spend 4 days working and then Chris would drive up (10 hours!) and meet me and we would spend the rest of the weekend exploring Minneapolis and drive back to KS together. It was such a good idea! We had a ball! 

First of all the conference was incredible. I'm really proud to work in the co-op world with a network of people all over the country who stand behind the same causes that I do. It was great to have us all in one place to talk shop and listen to some really incredible speakers, such as, the founder of the Just Label It campaign (the labeling of Genetically Modified Organisms).

Chris showed up on Friday afternoon and we jammed packed the weekend! We went to the Walker Art Center, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Mill City Museum and Farmers Market, and Sea Salt. Oh yea, and it was Pride weekend! We went to the Pride festival and the parade. It was incredible. There were more than 300,000 people at the parade and festival!!!

After we left Minneapolis, we drove to Rochester, MN where a friend of ours grew up. She happened to be visiting! Her folks are master gardeners so I was eager to see the place. It blew us away! Stone paths, baby goats and donkeys, chickens, bees, a pond with a waterfall. Their very own Eden. We ended up spending the night there and getting up early to get on the road toward Decorah, Iowa.

I've wanted to go to Decorah for years! Seed Savers Exchange is there. There mission is to conserve and promote America's culturally diverse but endangered food crop heritage for future generations by collecting, growing, and sharing heirloom seeds and plants. Not only do I have a strong connection because I use their seeds in my own garden, but my very good friend, Tracy, grew up there on the farm. Her parents started Seed Savers back in the 70's. What a crazy connection! So, Tracy's mom, Diane, met us there and gave us a tour of her garden and then Lou, who I order seeds for The Merc from, met us and toured us around the rest of the farm. It's such an amazing place! I'll just let the photos explain...

What an awesome trip!!!

Dinner at the 112 Eatery

The Farmers Market was tucked between those buildings 

right next to the raging river.

Love is the Law in Minnesota!

Our favorite artist, Egon Schiele

Kendra, the queen of the gorgeous snack tray!

A grotto built by Kendra's folks.

Baby goat and Edith

View of the goat field and pergola from on top of the grotto.

 A gardener's Mecca!

The Seed Bank!

Visions of veggies dance in my head

It's the dead of winter and it's time to melt the snow with thoughts of delicious heirloom vegetables and herbs growing in my garden. It's a known fact that in January people start getting amped up about Spring (and sick of Winter) and they start planning their gardens. I'm doing exactly that. The new Seed Savers Exchange catalog is gorgeous and has my gears turnin'. This year I'm going to start plants indoors in the basement under a grow light. This will allow me to grow some things that I haven't been able to in the past--broccoli, kale, leek, etc. Speaking of the basement, you can check out what Chris has been up to this winter here. It's nice to have Spring as a deadline for projects.

Look at those unusual carrots! Perfect for rocky soil.

Those darn bugs.

The garden is slowing down quite a bit. We have cucumber beetles and it's a huge bummer. They have almost completely killed my cucumber plants and we have to pick tomatoes before they are ripe or else the bugs will devour them. However, the okra just keeps on truckin' unscathed. I'd say that it's been our most bountiful crop. Brian from Henry's Plant Farm told me that after about 3-5 years of gardening I'll have those kinks (like cucumber beetles) worked out. You have to expect the unexpected and those problems are tougher to solve if you want to grow organically.

I did some canning yesterday with my friend, Josh. It's nice to have a partner there to help you. We canned 14 jars of okra and pickling cucumbers. I L-O-V-E pickled okra.

Our windowsill is lined with ripening tomatoes. Mmmmm!

My garlic chives just flowered.

Look at how tall the okra is in the background! It's almost getting hard to reach up to harvest the okra.

These peppers are called Wenk's Yellow Hots. I'm too scared to eat them. I know they are too hot for me. I think I like to grow them to give away.

That entire picture is our HUGE cherry tomato plant with NOT A SINGLE TOMATO on it. What on earth?

This is called a True Lemon Cucumber. They are so cute and delicious.

An okra flower.

There were 2 of these gorgeous butterflies drifting around the garden and I watched them for about 15 minutes. They made me so happy.

Those vampires won't be coming around here!

Holy cow, there is just so much to say. Chris and I went to Colorado for a week and the garden went crazy. We had wonderful house guests (thank you Kristin and Eric!) who took care of our yard and our kitty and it rained a TON! Everything is so abundant and beautiful, it's just breathtaking. I harvested the most gigantic bundle of basil tonight. I spent 2 hours in the kitchen, with my food processor whirling away, making 2 quarts of pesto. I'll probably give a little away and Chris will eat the rest, because he LOVES it. I love to freeze pesto in little packets for fresh summer meals in the middle of winter. We are rethinking the lower garden for next year. Maybe we will combine both gardens and fence them in with something a little more permanent. We are so overwhelmed with ideas of new projects--the gardens, the deck area that I want to be more like an outside room, the storage room that I want to turn into a guest room. The possibilities are endless. It's great to be back home and at work where I love the people, the atmosphere and the meaning behind all that I do. Check out what the Merc is up to these days. It's so cool how involved in the community we are.

My insane basil harvest!

Vampires won't be coming around here!

Two kinds of cukes!

Basil mania!

Two kinds of okra!

Cosmos and tomatoes!

Echinacea!

Basil and nasturtium.

Prepping basil for pesto.

Ready for some whirling!

The finished product.

And finally, our newest family member, a dove who has made a nest in the same fern as our finch family. There is one egg. Maybe she will come back next year too.