“Why do you have a hammer in your knife drawer?” My daughter-in-law was pawing through what we euphamistically call the knife drawer. It’s more like a tool drawer. Sure, there are knives of every sort—chef knives, boning knives, bread knives, carving knives, and a 25-year-old Ginsu knife—but in the knife drawer, there are other tools that have been with me through thick and thin. I need every one of them, including the hammer.

After she found what she was looking for, the can opener, she scuttled back to their mobile home just across the driveway. Normally, I have little need for a can opener, which would explain why she had to search way to the back of the drawer before she found the little-used device. But things haven’t been normal around here since I went back to college. Last year, my tomatoes froze. It was my fault for not covering them. I was busy with finals, and the forecast called for “spotty” frost. I knew better than to trust the weather man, but I did nothing, and they froze, leaving me without any tomatoes to dry or can for the winter. So, I was forced to buy canned tomatoes. What do you need to open canned tomatoes? That’s right, a can opener.

A few days later, I went to make ravioli, and found myself with no can opener. The kids were out of town for a couple of days, and their door was locked. Wayne was out in the barn, so I couldn’t get him to open the can of diced tomatoes with the opener on his pocketknife. The pasta was made, the cheese shredded, the meat cooked. We were having ravioli and that was that. I had to get that can opened.

I opened the knife drawer and stared into the unorganized maze of intertwined whisks, rubber spatulas, cheese graters, knives, and wooden rolling pins. After surveying the available tools, I chose the hammer, the phillips screwdriver, and a pair of pliers for the task at hand. Yes, all of these things are in my kitchen tool drawer. I wash them, dry them, and put them up with the other kitchen utensils. They’re mine. I need them.

I used the hammer and screwdriver to make a couple of holes right next to each other in the top of the can, driving the tip of the screwdriver into the can with a couple of quick blows from the hammer. Then, using just the screwdriver, I enlarged the holes enough to get a hold of them with the pliers. Using the pliers, I peeled the a piece of the tin back and dumped them into the pan.

So, dear daughter-in-law, that’s why I have a hammer in my drawer.

I’ve been getting a steady stream of garden catalogs in the mail since December. I’ve been too busy to spend any meaningful time with them. Instead, I stashed them in the magazine rack next to my favorite chair until it wouldn’t hold another one. Then I stacked them on top of the magazine rack until they started sliding off and disappearing under the chair. Actually, that’s the reason I’ve decided it’s time pay attention to the garden catalogs. Once they started to protude from under the chair, I felt compelled to take action. It’s time to do some winter weeding and get rid of the ones that I won’t use, and start paying attention to the ones I’ll order from.

Generally, I avoid the catalogs from the giant seed suppliers, preferring to buy seeds from smaller providers like Seed Savers Exchange, Territorial Seeds, Fedco and others. I’ve found the seed quality and customer service much better at smaller seed houses. For me, quality is important. I want seeds that will produce healthy vigorous plants with character, not some genetically engineered variety that will produce “adequately.” If I were the least bit interested in adequate, I wouldn’t bother with gardening at all. The grocery store would be adequate.

We have a limited garden space, even though we live on a farm. Because we are dairy producers, every last inch is in grass for the cows. I had to summon up every negotiating skill I had to get Wayne to agree to the 35′ x 100′  plot that I ended up with. We grow a good deal of our own food, and this year, I’m determined to grow even more, and do more with the space I have. So I’m going to be even pickier about my seed this year than usual.  I’m weeding out the catalogs that promise a bunch of buy-one-get-one-free deals. In my experience, these have never been bargains. The seeds usually produce weak plants that will only perform to a pre-engineered standard no matter how much the gardener may coax them to do more. It’s disheartening for the grower and, I suspect, Mother Nature alike. True, seeds from the smaller suppliers may be a little more expensive, but you get what you pay for, and this is especially true of garden seed. Remember that when you’re doing your winter weeding.

It was bound to happen. The first weed to develop a resistance to chemicals has shown itself. Pigweed is invulnerable to man-made herbicides. Monsanto says it’s the farmers’ fault. Corporate farms are in huge trouble because they can’t harvest what’s left of their GMO crops. Check out this video from ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=8767877