Back in Early December
I thought by this time, I might be feeling the cold and the dark, so I brought home a new orchid, which/who continues to bloom extravagantly.

I thought by this time, I might be feeling the cold and the dark, so I brought home a new orchid, which/who continues to bloom extravagantly.

This morning I misted the orchids. None are blooming right now, but an orange catteleya I received as a gift several years ago is budding, as is my favorite epidendrum, which offers up a host of delicate, greenish, spidery blooms every February. It brightens my day to spend a little time tending the house plants when it is most wintry outside.
I rinsed sprouts. I have both bean sprouts and a salad mixture going. I started new batches of sprouts as soon as I returned from NYC. I was grateful for the offerings at the grocery store, but pine for at least a little something truly fresh. I’d had a little chard, parsley, and chives that made it through the snow storm. Much to my surprise, I even managed to salvage enough from the garden to include in an omelet after the ice storm the other morning, but the day-time subfreezing temperatures and icy winds have finished off the outdoor garden until March. I think I am going to get some burlap and start some micro-greens in addition to salad and bean sprouts.
It was a day of meetings and conversations and emails. I’m in the middle of a major project, and it feels demanding. I’m being careful to take good care of myself.
On the walk home, just as the last glimmers of daylight were fading, I could feel the temperature dropping. Any last warmth was being blown away by the wind. I was bundled up and had my computer with me with the intention of working from home. The sky was like a black opal–dark blue-grays with fiery orange streaks. The walk (chanting the Maha mrityunjaya mantra for some of the way) shifted me out of work mode.
I came home to my newest gardening venture. The worms will arrive separately; they will be held for me at the post office to keep them out of the cold.
Experienced vermicomposters, please feel freee to post your favorite tips for happy, healthy, hungry worms.