Spring Garden Market in San Jose

The melody flows inside my head like the rain streaming through our bermuda grass. And you may tell yourself, this is not my beautiful spring. And you make ask yourself, well, how did I get here? Letting the days go by/water flowing underground*. And overground, and down the driveway and into the tiniest gap between my raincoat collar and my momentarily exposed neck. This is not my beautiful California.

For weeks in a row I repeat my mantra, Rain Is Good, with an early morning peek at the grey clouds, bustling and sniffling about in a cold sky and weeping on and off through the day and night. Today I am happy. I have just seen the notice for the Master Gardeners of Santa Clara 12th Annual Spring Garden Market. And it is this Saturday, April 1, 2006. No April Fool's joke, there really will be a spring market, rain or shine. And the way I look at it, a beautiful spring can't be far off.

The market will thrill tomato fans - 70 varieties of heirlooms for your perusal. And I eagerly anticipate debating amongst the cinammon basil, the cardinal basil, the lemon basil, Italian pesto basil, spicy saber basil and the other 9 varieties of my favorite summer herb. Eight varieties of eggplant will be vying for attention. And no doubt you will find friends with which to compare the merits of the flashy troutback and the emerald oakleaf lettuces among the herbs and greens and flowers.

This event is put on by the Master gardeners, University of California Cooperative Extension. Here's a link to the event. And here's a quiz to test your master gardener yearnings.

The event runs from 9AM to 2PM at Mercury News Facility , 750 Ridder Park Dr., San Jose (West Parking Lot).

Looking forward to Spring, same as it ever was.

*adapted from Talking Heads "Once in a Lifetime"