Windrow Garden Read online

  = Chapter 13 =

  Bread & Roses

  Gardening is not simply a spring and summer activity. Your garden will need attention throughout the year. A certain amount of preparation for winter is necessary as the growing season comes to a close, and some care endures to the hope of spring. The garden should be mulched to prevent excessive freezing and thawing with the likely harshness of the weather. With proper mulching, you will be rewarded with the continual harvest of freshly rooted vegetables throughout the long fall and much of the winter. Properly mulched, the garden soils will freeze little or not at all. In this manner, plant roots and soil organisms will have the opportunity to remain partly active during the winter and ensure early production when the spring returns.

  Mounding is necessary for some shrubs and perennials. Mounding is done at the base of the plant to protect the root system. Shrubs should be cut back and then provided with a protective layer of mounding and mulch.

  Biennials need to receive greater protection than the mulching and mounding recommended for shrubs and perennials. Cardboard or wooden boxes should be inverted over the tops of the biennials you wish to see again in spring. Mulch before covering.

  A little care and preparation will provide you with a healthy and beautiful return as the year revolves to renewal once again.

  Groundwork

  Nicole and Sally sat in front of the fireplace and watched the bright flames dancing among the logs. Nicole sat on the davenport with Sally curled by her side and sighed contentedly to herself. Sally turned in Nicole’s arms and reached up to touch the face of the woman she loved. Nicole wrapped her arms soothingly around Sally and held her close in the exchange of sweet kisses.

  “If you persist,” Nicole said, releasing Sally’s lips from her own, “you’ll be in danger of me wanting you right here, right now.”

  “Can’t have that, now can we? Gwynn Marian is supposed to be out riding her pony, but with the snow picking up, I don’t know,” Sally said, looking out the bay window over Nicole’s shoulder. “She’s likely to be heading back to the stalls and then here.”

  “There’s nothing she doesn’t know now,” Nicole assured Sally. “But, intimacy between you and me, particularly the sort you’re making me want and want right now, doesn’t have to, shouldn’t be, part of her awareness.”

  “I’m acutely aware of that,” Sally said, snuggling into Nicole’s arms. “I’m also aware that sitting here, as lovely as it is, is not getting things done. And we have a lot to prepare for.”

  “In due time, in due time,” Nicole appeased. She knew where this conversation was going. She knew the work that she and Sally had started and how much was left to do.

  “Time? It certainly took time for the insurance company to pay off on the restaurant and house. It took time for that little house we bought to get moved and set up on the old foundation. It took more time for the equipment and the River Market space lease. And it’s taking time to promote the new cheesecakes and other organic foods business we’re going to be building there,” Sally huffed.

  “That may be,” Nicole consoled. “Just remember, though, you don’t have to do it alone. Jake will run the storefront in the River Market. I think he’s really looking forward to it. You and Martha will do the cheesecakes, herb oils, and vinegars, while your mother ramrods shipping the food baskets for the organically inclined in a two-county area. Everything is at the ready. It will be fine,” Nicole assured Sally.

  “You really think so?”

  “I know so. I even know more than that,” Nicole said, pulling Sally closer. “I know your mother loves you; she’s even managed to talk to me lately without looking like an oncoming storm cloud. I know your daughter loves you, but you know that, too. You certainly shouldn’t be confused as to how I feel about you. I understand, too, that there’s a lot of work to do, but even with that, I can’t remember ever being happier. Although I’m a little confused,” Nicole declared.

  “About what, dear?” Sally asked in concern.

  “Simply that, of all my mental meandering, fantasies, and speculations…” She hesitated, shaking her head and grinning.

  “What, what’s wrong?” Sally asked, sitting up and searching Nicole’s face anxiously.

  “I simply never imagined I’d ever be working on a farm again. I ran away from a farm better than twenty years ago. It feels strange to find myself here and to be very happily here and with you,” Nicole puzzled.

  “Oh, that. Then let’s set the record straight, or rather just set the record, shall we?” Sally said, pulling Nicole to her. “You don’t work here. You belong here, make no mistake about that. We own this together now. I wouldn’t want to do it without you. As far as the other goes, it reminds me of something my father once told me.”

  “And what would that be?” Nicole asked as she nibbled Sally’s neck.

  “He told me that sometimes, no matter how far you go, what you think you’re running from or reaching for, you’re always coming home.”

  About the Author

  Janet McClellan is a Ph.D. (abd) Political Science from the University of Kansas with areas of concentration in public administration, policy analysis and soc/criminology, M.A. Public Administration from the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio. (1978) B.A. Government and Administration from Park College in Parkville, Missouri (1976). McClellan has been a professor of political science and criminal justice for over twenty years.

  Janet has worked with text publishers (Prentice Hall, West, McGraw Hill, and Hougton Miffflin) in text revision, review and editing for over twenty years. Additionally, Janet is a published author of mystery novels involving her characters of Tru North and Lynne Fhaolain. Windrow Garden is her first romance novel.

  McClellan has been a patrol officer, detective, juvenile officer, homicide and arson investigator, and police chief. In academia and training, she was the state-wide training director training corrections. She is currently a SUNY Canton Professor of Criminal Investigation in the Criminal Investigation BA-T program at Canton. Janet teaches Homicide Investigtion, Arson Investigation, Law Enforcement Operations, and Forensics.

  Janet has owned a bookstore, studied for her Ph.D., and traveled extensively. She continues to travel whenever she can. She writes from investigative experience but not necessarily personal romantic experience. And even then, McClellan changes the names to protect guilty and innocent alike. Tru North is more free-wheeling and romantically adventurous than McClellan is. (That’s her story, and she’s sticking to it!) Major Lynne Fhaolain is middle-aged, 45-ish, and operates a bit more as Janet does.

  Check Out Other Titles Available from ArtemisPress!

  Minding Therapy by Ros Johnson

  www.artemispress.com/html/mtherapy.html

  Observers and Other Stories by Eleanor Lerman

  www.artemispress.com/html/observers.html

  Clicking Stones by Nancy Tyler Glenn

  www.artemispress.com/html/cstones.html

  Faith In Love by Liann Snow

  www.artemispress.com/html/faith.html

  Moon Madness and Other Stories by Liann Snow

  www.artemispress.com/html/mmadness.html

  Against A White Sky by Laurie Stapleton

  www.artemispress.com/html/whitesky.html

  Zoo Gang Girls by Joan Arndt

  www.artemispress.com/html/zoogang.html

  Never Letting Go by Suzanne Hollo

  www.artemispress.com/html/never.html

  Luna Ascending: Stories of Love and Magic by Renee Brown

  www.artemispress.com/html/luna.html

 

 

 
ter: grayscale(100%); " class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share