I have not been serious about gardening, plant cultivation or anything of that sort in years, but now I find myself expecting delivery of 75 bare root strawberry plants in November, 2 blueberry bushes in December and 150 regular strawberry plants in February, as well as having an existing 5 Muscatine vines that will need tending to. Over the past few days I have been gathering what little information that exists on the topics that is freely available and trying to compile a good amount of it into a usable form. At present it is feeling a bit like a research paper, which is how I will likely approach getting this information together into a concise bit of information that might be useful to me and to others. The odd question I find myself wondering though is what format does the field of horticulture use for research papers? I suspect botany, being a division of biology would use MLA, but horticulture is a bit more bare bones, less biology and more “ground” work. The research paper theory would work better for this if I had a base for it, some question or main thesis to go against. All I know is I want to compile information that will result in the best berries from my plants and vines that I possibly can do.

I partially wonder if I am using this topic as a distraction from preparing paperwork for graduate school. Maybe it is, or maybe it is just an old interest getting new life again, now that I am once again prepared for such an interest. My head has been too filled with technology, philosophy and psychological theories lately. I need some diversion that is a little more grounded and a little more basic, and in some way puts me in touch with earth again. Academic thought is a wonderful place, but at the end of the day, its still just thought and all that can be done with it is think or write. Even art, photography and ceramics, has to much thinking involved. Things must have balance and must be framed just so. It is all very tiring and leaves me looking for fond memories of accomplishment without so much thought.