Gardening has to wait.  Sue and I just returned from over a week in Florida - first spending time with my brother and his family, and seeing my mom (who is in a nursing home nearby), then heading off for our first ever trip to Sanibel.  It was a remarkable trip in many ways....some pics below....my mom and I, and various shots from our five days at Sanibel. 

I hope that this long-overdue blog post finds everyone happy and healthy, having had a nice holiday - and Happy New Year!  It's been an interesting, and busy time....lots of stuff bubbling under the surface. But I spent today recording dozens of samples of returned Dwarf Tomato Project seed...combine that with recent communications about my upcoming (and first!) book - and it all adds up to the very beginnings of excitement about the gardening season to come.

First things first - the book....I spent lots of time in December, up until last weekend, working through the book in chapter chunks, carrying out the initial edit.  With that task now complete and the text at the copy editor, I've got a few weeks to answer some questions and do a little bit of thinking about how the book is shaping up. With a publication date of some time in December, there is still plenty to do, but I am starting to get really excited about it. Hopefully, next year at this time I will be lining up opportunities to speak about the book "on the road"...we shall see!

As far as the garden  this coming season.....as I've said several times, the key words are "smaller" and "simpler". I will be regrowing some tomatoes hoping for better results for some picture re-shoots for the book. This may even mean a sabbatical from growing anything for the Dwarf breeding project. The side yard garden is going to be much smaller, and the driveway will have far fewer pots of plants.  

Finally, as for Seedlings for the spring, I hope to determine how that will all work over the next month. There will be fewer seedlings, fewer weekends at the market (maybe just one!), and fewer varieties to choose from.  It is time for me to have a less hectic spring and summer...and this is the one!

Stay tuned...more to come, and more frequently!