Our growing challenges

The forecast this week is calling for snow. And yet, spring is on my mind.

Maybe it's a survival instinct for my mental health. But I'm counting the days for warmer weather.

It's a problem made worse since moving to Indiana. They say here not to plant outdoors until after Mother's Day - Mother's Day! - when I'm still used to seeing flowers at the markets in March and April back home in Kansas City.

And then the catalogs keep coming. We're tempted with pictures of a rainbow of flowers - none of which would likely survive under my brown thumb - and unusual produce picks. So a few weeks ago, I placed my first order. Actually, I won some seeds from May Dreams Gardens and Botanical Interests. So my daughter and I hopped online to do a little shopping.

Her wish list? "Rainbow carrots"and the multicolor pack of bush beans. And then she requested of all things, shallots! Too bad they weren't offered there. I supose I'll have to keep hunting! (It goes without saying that tomatoes, which she loves to grow but loathes to eat, will be on our list as well. I'm just not brave enough to start them from seed.)

In the next few weeks, I'll break down and round out my shopping list. So soon, but not soon enough, I'll actually get to plant them. The trick is two-fold: Getting anything to survive in Indiana clay, and getting everyone at my home to enjoy them!

Actually, I upped the ante this year and signed up for the Growing Challenge over at One Green Generation. The goal of the challenge is to not only grow something but also to learn to save seeds to enjoy it for future seasons. I'm not sure how this will turn out, but I'm all for learning something new along the way.