Personal Growth For The New Year

Been working on that list of resolutions? Burpee has packaged a collection of seven seeds designed to help you:

relax, make better food choices, save money, increase exercise and become a better steward of the environment

All that for 10 bucks. And you don't have to do a thing until spring (except order the Burpee New Year's Resolution Garden).

If you're new to gardening (or even if you're not), you might want to order a book or two to go with that. My go-to reference for many years has been The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch.

You might also find it easier to keep garden-related resolutions if you have a group to help answer questions and cheer you on. At the Kitchen Gardeneners International site, you'll find forums where you can post your questions, plus interest groups on topics that range from composting to container vegetable gardens to seed saving. These are people whose Eat The View campaign helped get a kitchen garden planted on the White House lawn.

I've enjoyed all the holiday sweets and treats and we have lots of leftovers to work on over the next few days. But as the mailbox bulges with garden catalogs, my craving for fresh, homegrown veggies will not be denied. I guess it's time to start some sprouts. That way I can just about guarantee some personal growth in the new year.