Happy New Year, and welcome to 2012.

Remember just 12 short years ago we were all waiting for the world to end – that Y2K craziness? Hydro was going to fail, bank machines wouldn’t work, life as we know it would come to a grinding halt. But lucky for us, everything went on as usual.

Looking forward, we don’t have all that long until we’re back out in the garden. Now that January is here, spring isn’t far behind. We’re only 10 weeks away from daylight saving time, and about 11 weeks until the first day of spring. The sun is shining a little bit longer every day, and before we know it the weather will start to change.

I’m planting a veggie garden this year for the first time since moving to this property – I’ve been busy filling it with perennials, shrubs and the odd new tree over the years, so now it’s time for something new. A wall of pole beans, lots o’ root veggies, big beefsteak tomatoes and plenty of squash and cucumber will be the main residents. With two new large raised beds, there’s plenty of room for everyone! Might even try some different salad greens, see how they work.

So on this rainy January 1st of a brand new year, it just seems to make sense to put on a fire, gaze out at the quite stillness of the garden and start reading through all those seed catalogs that made their way to the mailbox along with the Christmas flyers.

My resolution? Not to buy as many plants this year as I usually do. HA!

Cheers!