Gardens

Gardening is taking up my time these days. We took a week long trip to Indiana last week and found a gardener's nightmare when we returned. I planted spinach a month ago and it is just now finally coming up. The problem is that so are the weeds. I decided today to let the weeds go in the spinach row - except for a few clear cut cases of grass - in order to give the spinach time to establish. I always get in too much of a hurry and pull out the actual plants, not recognizing them for what they are.

I also planted watercress, but I have no idea what it's supposed to look like as seedlings. Half a row went in the ground on the same day as the spinach. I began weeding the watercress row a couple of weeks ago and then stopped cold. What if I'm pulling out the real thing? Eek! I might have already done that. I'll let the watercress row establish with the weeds, along with the spinach row. You live and learn the hard way sometimes.

I decided not to grow much in the way of herbs this year. Last year I dehydrated enough to last a couple of years and the garden space is better used for other crops. I do still have my oregano and sage patches. Since they're perennials, they're always there for me to enjoy some fresh cuttings in the summer besides the dried stuff in the winter.

I also have a very large chive plant which is in full bloom right now. The bees and butterflies are really loving that. Gotta watch those bees, though, because I have one son who is allergic to bee stings.

Jonathon bought a flat of tomato plants, squash & red cabbage plants today. He paid $5 for the whole flat and the plants are huge. That's fine, but I'd already used up most of the garden area. Here's a secret: Jeff told Jonathon NO more peppers, but the stinker bought 4 jalepeno plants anyway. Jeff brought him home with the plants without noticing.

I hope you are in a position to put in a garden, no matter how large or small. Even a few pots on the back deck will suffice. Groceries are killing a lot of folks' budgets. Money isn't the only reason to grow your own food, though. There are tons of health reasons, perhaps none as important as the need to avoid genetically altered food. I'm working on research on this topic and plan to do a post warning others of the dangers of messing with what God created to be our sustenance. For now,I hope you can catch the garden bug and find blessings in working with nature.