Day #131 The Garden is Getting Ready

Remember those beet seeds I planted WAY too early almost a month ago? They’ve started to come up. Now I have to worry about the weather.

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And the sweet peas, zinnia, portulaca, and dill my grandkids sowed in the seed-starter pots? They’re up, too, straining to overgrow the grow-light I have above them. Too early to put them outside. Running out of room in my office, where they’re perched on the top of a long filing cabinet.

Yikes! What do I do?

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Bees are smart. They wait until the weather is exactly right. Of course, if these early plants make it, I’ll have beets and flowers and herbs ready to pick in no time at all.

I think I like the suspense! And the fact that I won't have to wonder if the dandelions will survive...

BEEattitude for Day # 131:

       Blessed are those who plant, for they shall reap the benefits.

       And blessed are those who let the weeds grow, for they shall reap benefits as well.

One thing Fran is grateful for right now:

       The full moon last night    

http://www.franstewart.com

Day #115 Gardening in Bags

I found a great article in Mother Earth News (the only magazine I subscribe to) about how to start a garden in bags of soil. Sounded great to me, since my “back yard” is a small strip of weedy ground between the house and the woods, strewn with spiky round seed pods from the sour-gum trees. The thought of trying to turn it over and delete all the weeds has kept me – well – NOT gardening back there for the past six years.

This year, all that’s going to change. I’ve bought three bags of soil (that’s all I can fit in the trunk of my little car without tipping its front tires off the road). I laid them in a row, side by side to keep weeds from growing up between them.

When the weather is right, I’ll cut a big rectangle out of the top surface, poke drainage holes down through the bottom, and plant my seeds. Lettuce and beets to start with, followed by tomatoes and dill and chives, scallions and parsley and nasturtiums and marigolds. The list goes on.

Now all I have to do is buy 25 more bags. And straw to put around the ends of the bags to keep the weeds from growing up in the pathways and over the edges. Home Depot, here I come…

Boy, am I going to have a busy spring and summer.

BEEattitude for Day # 115:

       Blessed are they who garden, for we shall pollinate their plants and they shall have food in abundance.

One thing Fran is grateful for right now:

       The downy woodpecker eating home-made suet outside my window as I write this.    

http://www.franstewart.com