Catalog arrives in the nick of time

It always comes in the dead of winter, just when you're ready to give up any hope of spring.

So it was this week, that amid snow now level with our front deck, the sidewalk due for another shoveling and more snow in the forecast, the Gurney's seed catalog arrived.

All winter work grinds to a halt when you open the glorious, colorful magazine and contemplate what varieties to order for this year's garden. Will it be the Scarlet Nantes carrots or the Tendersweets?

My husband thinks we should try the Rainbow Mix, a new seed combo that yields purple, yellow, red and white carrots. He's always gravitating toward the unusual veggies, the Purple Passion asparagus, the beets that are red-and-white striped or cauliflower the color of cheddar cheese.

I'm more of a tried and true gardener. If the Blue Lake green beans were good enough for my mother, they're good enough for me. Why mess with what's worked in the past? Still, it is fun to pore over every page, each a kaleidoscope of color, and dream about bumper crops of Brussels sprouts or Miss Pickler cucumbers.

Anyone who's ever gardened in the Flathead knows it's a challenge. In Whitefish, our growing season is a tad bit shorter than Kalispell, so we're used to covering the tomatoes for up to a month before they ripen to dodge those early frosts.

The deer are our most challenging nemesis, but by no means the only critters who like to call the Hintze garden home. We put up six-foot-high netting last year that kept the ungulates out, but a pheasant hen spent the summer nesting in my beet patch. Our tomcat found a way to slip under the netting and found shade under the rhubarb leaves.

Along with these lingering thoughts about what to plant comes the vow to be a more diligent weeder and waterer.

I remember the time I had a garden at a rental house while I was in college. With a full class load that summer and two part-time jobs, there was little time to tend the garden plot. Right around the end of July, the little old lady next door suggested we mow down "that weed patch." So I did. It was a little embarrassing, though.

I've enjoyed gardens of all sizes through the years. Some years have been more bountiful than others, but always it's simply nice to have fresh produce. You just can't beat it.

If any of you have gardening advice to share, I'd love to hear from you.

ON ANOTHER note, you'll be happy to hear I survived my time in Minnesota. One day started out at a minus 28 degrees and got to a high of minus 11, but we managed.

True to our Scandinavian heritage, my mother fixed lutefisk and lefse twice while I was home. She'd saved some in the freezer from the holidays, and it was as good as I remembered. For those of you who haven't followed my escapades as a second-generation Norwegian-American, lutefisk is lye-soaked cod slathered in melted butter.

I almost bought the T-shirt I saw at Wahl General Store in my hometown of Hawley, which declared: "If you don't talk to your kids about lutefisk, who will?"

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com