Lemon Drop Pie

Disclaimer: I’m participating in Hey, Let’s Grow, a gardening program sponsored by Monsanto, which provided me with a seed starter kit, Seminis Home Garden seeds, and a gift card for additional gardening supplies. All opinions, along with gardening skills or lack thereof, are my own.

This winter, Chicagoans were surprised by spring-like weather in February, and by winter-like weather in March. We now have quite a few inches of snow on the ground! I mean, seriously, a month ago my kids were ripping off their coats and running to the park to meet their friends, and today they were wearing snow pants and making snow angels in the back yard.

Back when it was warm in February, I was so excited about spring that I wanted to get my garden started! At the beginning of March, I decided which Seminis seeds I was going to plant and used the garden starter kit sent to me by my friends at Monsanto. Even though we usually don’t plant outside until Mother’s Day or later in this area, it’s not too early to start seeds, like tomatoes and peppers, inside.

Well, maybe it’s too early for beans. I’ve already had to put my bean seedlings in bigger pots!

I had no idea what lettuce and spinach seeds and seedlings look like. How fun to be able to plant them and see them sprout! I bought a small grow light from my local garden center to give my seedlings more light to grow by. I hope these little plants flourish–my hope is to have some lettuce and spinach to eat later this spring.

My little pepper seeds haven’t started yet; I think I see one little sprout starting to pop up! I haven’t given up hope; pepper seeds like it warm and take a little longer to sprout, from what I’ve read online.

Do you garden? What would you like to grow? Follow along with my seedlings and me this spring to see what happens!

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I never give up anything for Lent. I was explaining to my husband last night that I hadn’t even heard of giving up something for Lent until I was an adult. Well, he said, it was probably because you didn’t know any Catholics when you were growing up. I thought about it, and yes, that was true. I grew up in a small town. By small, I mean no traffic lights, no public library, and no McDonald’s. We had a Lutheran church and a Lutheran school, and if you weren’t Lutheran, you probably didn’t go to church at all. People who live in the suburbs where I live now have a difficult time comprehending the smallness of a town with only 800 people on a good day. But I also had no concept of how Catholics observe Lent. Moving to the suburbs with a high concentration of Catholics changed all that. Signs in local restaurants advertised egg and pepper sandwiches, and I wondered why. Well, if you can’t have red meat, that sandwich would make a good lunch. And not only Catholics gave up things for Lent. When he was single, Ed gave up fast food for Lent, although now he doesn’t because he rarely eats fast food so it wouldn’t be much of a sacrifice.

My Catholic acquaintances didn’t quite know what to make of me, either. The girl who sat next to me in homeroom was shocked when she heard my father was a priest! Um, that wasn’t quite right, as I explained that Protestant ministers are allowed to marry and have children. Just a couple of years ago, I mentioned to a friend that All Saints’ Day was difficult for me because I remembered my mom on that day. She was surprised that I, as a Protestant, even knew what All Saints’ Day was.

Today, Ash Wednesday, is an important day for both Catholics and Lutherans; for all Christians, in fact. It signals the beginning of Lent; a time of repentance leading up to Easter.

When I was young, unlike Catholic churches, we didn’t have the imposition of ashes on our foreheads for Ash Wednesday. An article I found about Lutheran worship confirms the loss of this ancient tradition:

“Lutherans at the time of the Reformation did not choose to retain the Imposition of Ashes. The reasons for this are not entirely clear since there is very little written for or against this practice by Luther and his colleagues. Thus, although Lutherans began Lent with Ash Wednesday, they did not retain the use of ashes as part of their Ash Wednesday order of service.”

Many Lutheran churches, including mine, have brought the ashes back into our worship service. It’s a great tradition, one that reminds us where we come from (dust) and where we deserve to go (ashes). The blackness of the ashes remind us of the darkness in our hearts; sins known and unknown. Doesn’t that understanding and knowledge of Lent increase the joys of Easter and the Resurrection?