Friday, March 20, 2015

Your Daily Gardening Fix



I am thankful for all the artwork from Norma Boeckler. I have a wide array of graphics to use each day, and I share them on Facebook, as others do.

Various people ask for more about gardening, and that is leading to a book about Creation Gardening later this year.

I am usually up before dawn, so I take the paper to door of my neighbor, Mr. Gardener. Paper delivery has declined so they make people walk out to the street to get their newspaper, which is often hidden behind parked vehicles. For that they want $360 a year for the daily newspaper.

Walking next door is also a chance to take Sassy out - she loves that. And I check out the progress of the garden. We are often up and about before the birds, so I feed them when necessary.



Gardening does not compare to the thrill of children and grandchildren, but it is still a pretty good drug, addicting but healthy and low cost.

I like the long-term investment and repayment system. When I buried the fall bulbs from Dutch Gardens, I had nothing to show for it. The mulched rose garden even covered the scars of digging. A late winter snowstorm or two delayed the bulbs breaching the surface, but when they did - ecstasy. Garlic is hard to mess up. Those stalks poked up first, then daffodils, then the start of Crown Imperials. One was missing. Where is the last Crown Imperial? The tulips worked up slowly and finally - the last Crown Imperial appeared, like a submarine sticking its periscope up.

Our helper is justifiably proud of our mulched gardening areas. Today I can easily pull aside some mulch along the fence and plant oodles of pool beans. I plan on a second, parallel slot for carrots. And if some of that fails, hundreds of plants will still grow.

The sunflower seeds I saved are called King Kong. They are not only 14 feet tall, but strong and multi-branched. They should be fun to see growing.

I was thinking about putting all the bee, butterfly, and hummingbird plants in the far back, partially as a screen to block the view, but I am going to have a cluster of these plants near the back door, so everyone can see the action there too. This summer will be fun.

Support your local fungus. They are smart enough
to spring a trap on a nematode and dissolve it,
moving the nutrition to plant roots in exchange for carbon credits.
Creation or a co-inky-dink? You decide.