Catalogs, catalogs and more catalogs

I keep getting gardening catalogs in the mail and it's making me yearn for spring to be here. Each one offers a special deal - $20 off on an order of $40 or more, double the order for 1 penny, $25 off orders of $50 or more. I'm going back and forth, comparing deals, visualizing where in the garden I'd put things, imagining what it will look like when everything's planted and growing. Do I get enough sun for the mini lemon tree if I put it in a container on my deck? Should I go for the astilbe grab bag with random colors (7 for $20) or the one with all pink (9 for $20)? Of course, whatever I order now won't be here until April, but some of the offers expire in February. I anticipate many hours spent on the couch flipping through catalogs between now and April.

Learning How to Compost

I ordered a leaf bin to collect all the leaves in my yard and compost them. Over the last several weeks we've been adding kitchen scraps to the bin and mixing them in with the leaves. I'm not sure how long it will take to make it all into compost, but I'm excited. This weekend I'm going to Home Depot to buy a pitchfork to make it easier to turn and mix the stuff in the bin.