Amaranth took over!

We were away for 10 days for a fabulous vacation to Asheville, North Carolina! The pet sitter, really the plant sitter, (we have way more plants than pets) took very good care of everyone. Thank you Betty! The Pet Nanny, Inc 407-340-9672

While we were gone, the amaranth took over! We had just a few amaranth plants last year, but they grew big! And evidently, they spewed a lot of seed! The soil seems to be inundated. But gosh! they are beautiful! Green green leaves on top and reddish underneath. Fantastic! We are pulling some up and potting them to give away at our Organic Grower's meeting next week.

The weeds moved in while we were gone as well and here is Jon with his hoe! Yes, we giggled about the colorful metaphors that go along with the naming of this gardening basic. He is so good with that thing!

All of the seedlings we have in containers are ready to be planted, here is the space for them!

See our corn rows? Those are planted just 2 weeks apart. We will continue to plant rows weeks apart for a staggered harvest. Yum yum, I can already taste those bursting kernels!

Spring has sprung and boy! It is nice to be outside in the sunny and breezy weather. Seeing the new baby green plants reaching for the sun and lapping up the irrigation fills me with anticipation. We have many, many great plantings! Such a good time to do so much work out there. By the time the hot weather hits, there will be only watering and harvesting! (ya, right!)

How are you doing with your garden? Write to me. I want to hear about yours! Come to our Organic Grower's Meeting at Leu Gardens in Orlando, every 3rd Wed. of the month. 7 pm.

Guys and shovels

What is it with guys and shovels? With adept use of this amazing tool, Jon transformed my small (maybe somewhat unimaginative) plan for plant placement into a swath of measured beauty for our backyard organic garden! With more work for big muscles, I allowed him to move the chiminea back against the brick fence opening up more space for more plants!! Even though my tray of seedlings promises us a few herb plants eventually, Jon brought us several big healthy ones from the nursery. Yummy rosemary, basil, thyme, mint and oregano will add sweet succulence to our gourmet cooking!

We spent most of an amazing early springtime day together out there pulling roots (that darned St Augustine!) and planting. Such a privilege! And yes he measures! Precision is important to him and since both feet are the same size, he uses both to configure location, location, location!

I moved a few grateful arugula seedlings from the tray and into fertile mounds. Notice the cotton seed meal sprinkled over every thing? This provides enrichment for hungry little roots!

We have a marvelous start to more and more fun in the sunshine right here in our own back yard organic garden.