How does My Garden Grow?
As someone who grew up in the northern climes of Wisconsin with long winters enhanced in January by the arrival of the seed catalogs, it has taken me more than a few years to become accustomed to a place where things grown year-round—-and lawn-mowing as well.
The first time i planted peas….in the middle of May, I was informed that everyone else was pulling up their plants as Gulf coast weather was entirely too hot for them to continue producing—and there were no tomato sets in the gardening stores.
But I have learned.
Today we are picking satsumas from the tree in our front yard and sharing the with others. The lemon tree did not do so well this year but I still have plenty of frozen ones for lemonaid and pickled ones for flavoring chicken and fish. And then we set up a new watering system for the late winter/early spring garden.
Radishes and three kinds of lettuce and some peas have been seeded; the tomato that somehow survived two hurricanes and the hot summer weather has a few green tomatoes on it—but I pulled up the okra as it is now far too cool for it to continue podding. Okra flowers are so pretty with their deep purple throats and creamy outer petals—and now with an abundance of okra, we have experimented in using it in unusual ways–it has proven to be a great addition to pizza—and no, it is not slimey.
Broccoli has persisted through the summer and re-seeded itself—it is one of the bees favorite flowers as the pollen is high in protein–needed for all those baby bees I expect to have in the early spring.
Now comes the hard part, waiting until I see those little sprouts appearing—but while I wait I can have a satsuma.
Sylvia Weir Art 