As the thermometer finally awakes from its winter slumber today, I am, naturally, thinking about spring. Soon it will be time for me to assume my first annual role as groundskeeper of my little plot in Camden, and I have high ambitions. My friends at Goose River Greenery in Rockport are going to help me plan my cook's garden, which I'm hoping will include all kinds of herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, potatoes, squash, carrots, and anything else I can fit in my small backyard. I have visions of fresh salads and grilled vegetables in my head: somehow my garden-to-be represents the beginning of my more pastoral existence.

Another Mainer is far more advanced in the kitchen garden world. Roger Doiron, founder of Kitchen Gardeners International and the Eat Local Foods Coalition of Maine was featured in a NYTimes article by Anne Raver published today. Amongst his many initiatives, Doiron has petitioned that the next president start a garden on White House grounds to provide much of the food for the White House. Visit his post "Eat the View" at ondayone.org for more details.

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