Spring Veggie Garden in Progress

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the spring garden.

garden letters from VivaTerra

On Sunday I seeded sugar snap peas, arugula, baby bok choy, and mesculn mix lettuce greens. Earlier this year I ordered early spring veggie starts from The Tasteful Garden. The Tasteful Garden is located in Alabama, just a little over 300 miles from my house. They aren't certified organic, but they grow their plants using organic techniques. I am happy with that. The store I ordered from last year - Mountain Valley Growers - is certified organic; but it is also almost 2,000 miles from my house.

My veggie starts arrived on Wednesday, and I am thrilled about how beautiful they are. The broccoli, fennel, and leek transplants were surrounded in cardboard, then the pots were wrapped in plastic.

I actually had forgotten that I'd ordered leeks this year. I guess it is time for me to fire up all those delicious Barefoot Contessa recipes with leeks.

Broccoli is my favorite vegetable. All I do is microwave it in a glass, covered dish for 3-4 minutes with a few tablespoons of water. Then, I'll top it with lemon juice and salt.

My favorite fennel recipe is from Giada. You can find it here.

I watered the pots after work today, and I'll put them in the raised beds on Saturday. Spring really is coming, y'all!

Semi Circle Bed - Sunflowers

In May I started some sunflowers from seed. They've been blooming all over the place! I took some photos over the past week of the sunflowers, zinnias, and cosmos in the semi circle bed. And of the tomatoes in that bed.

On July 28th:


















On August 2nd:

Ready for Sunflowers!

Saturday I was feeling a little bit under the weather. I got a cold on Wednesday when the temperatures dropped a little bit. My body always seems to react funny to large swings in the temperature. With the temperatures back up in the high 80s I didn't want to get out in the heat. Heat always seems to aggravate a cold, so I stayed inside looking longing outside at all the plants that needed my attention.

Today I'm feeling better. It is still warm out there -- 88F with the heat index -- but I have too much work to do to stay inside! I plan to put some sunflowers in the ground that I started from seed. Earlier this year I sowed sunflowers, zinnias, and cosmos directly in the ground of the semi-circle bed. Our lack of rain in May really took a toll on the zinnia and sunflower seedlings, and they all died. The cosmos came up just fine. I decided to sow some of the sunflowers in a leftover plastic plant cell. They are looking good, I think. Ready to put in he ground. I plan to do some zinnia seedlings in the plant cells next.

Oh! And Kroger had sunflower bunches on sale yesterday! I picked up a couple for an arrangement on the kitchen table.





This week I took some close-up photos of a few plants and I thought I share them.

Russian Sage:










Echinacea 'Sundown'

Farmers' Markets and Plant Sales

Some clues that spring is in full swing are when the farmers' markets open and the plant sales begin. Last weekend was filled with both. I dropped by the Mississippi Farmers' Market in Jackson on Saturday morning to see what was there. The strawberries looked incredible and tasted incredible! I also picked up a sesame challah - oh so good! I hope the bread folks are there every weekend. My new plan is to drop by every Saturday morning, buy what is fresh, and plan the week's meals around what I buy. That way I'm buying local, homegrown produce . Yum Yum.

After the farmers' market, I made my way over to Mynelle Gardens for the Master Gardeners' annual plant sale. They had a good selection. Many of the plants were the "passalong plants" you'd find in Felder's book with the same name. After about 20 minutes of browsing I decided on six cast iron plants to go around a tree in the backyard, one 'Mynelle' Daisy, and one 'Marguerite' Daisy. I plan to put the daisies in the perennial bed this weekend. The Landscaping students at Hinds Community College were also having a plant sale, but I didn't have time to get over there. I hear that their selection is fabulous.

My herbs should be coming in today. I need to get out there and get that spot ready for them. Hopefully I'll have some time after work today to get a little dirty. The zinnia, cosmo, and sunflower seeds are coming up all over the semi-circle bed. I am super excited about this bed because I haven't had zinnias and sunflowers in years. It should make for some pretty photos and great bouquets.

Cold Snap!

It has been down in the low 30s for the past few nights. It is supposed to warm up nicely today, up to 63F. The chilly temps kept me inside on Saturday, but that was a good thing because my house was a wreck! I got some spring cleaning done and did about 5 loads of laundry. Yay!

After church on Sunday I had some time to prepare my semi-circle bed for annual seeds: sunflowers, zinnias, and cosmos. These seeds remind me of my grandmother's country garden. She lines her huge vegetable garden with sunflowers. It is such a sight to see in the summer. She also has a big flower garden with Rose-of-Sharon, gladioli, hibiscus, zinnias, bachelor's buttons, and cosmos. I just love it!

Last year, the semi-circle bed was a wreck. The ground was super hard and the bed was full of rocks and roots. I couldn't even get a shovel through the topsoil without jumping up and down on it. I spent God-knows-how-many hours digging, adding compost, turning, and mulching. I was worried when I put the first shovel in yesterday. Would it still be yucky? Thankfully all my hard work paid off! The soil was in great condition for seeds.

Here's the seed list. I got these from the Burpee kiosk at HD.

SUNFLOWER
Mammoth - 12ft
Evening Sun - 7ft
AztecGold - 6ft
Del Sol - 5ft

ZINNIA
Purple Prince - 3ft

COSMOS
Sensation Radiance - 4ft

I have a few other seeds that I plan to put in the front of the bed, but I have pansies there now. Pretty soon I'll pull up the pansies and plant the other zinnias and cosmos.