in the Greenhouse

In seed-time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy. ~William Blake


seeds!   on Sunday (Imbolc), i started seeds for herbs that will be planted in the Healing Garden.  this is a rather hopeful move on my part - since that garden has yet to be created.  but the H has assured me that it is going to happen, so i have plenty of faith.

yesterday (first day of the Full Snow Moon) i started seeds for the veg and culinary herb gardens.  of course, i managed quite a merry mix-up with the 2 types of tomato seeds.  i'm sure this will turn into a very valuable lesson in plant identification, not to mention a lesson in staying a good bit more focused!

i do love this time of the year.  having seed trays that will require a close vigil does mean i will be spending more time in the greenhouse.  it is my Winter Refuge, and a welcome respite from the daily household chores.  not only that, it does give me a very positive focus, during the gloomy last 6 weeks of Winter.

i do have plenty of things to get caught up on in there right now - so it isn't just all about the seeds.  but i do love the seeds - they have a mystery and magick all of their own.

blessings to you and all that you grow.  Namaste.

compartmentalizing some more

this is going to be quite interesting.  i typed out and posted a blog with a HUGE update - only to delete it, because i am still trying to figure out things over here.    i will need to create a private page for family updates and such.  one of these days, LOL.  i suppose this page will remain set to public and i will use it for gardening related postings, only.  that does make more sense, even to me.  so.......please bear with me.  and i hope my friends who post over here more frequently will help guide me through this process.  Imbolc is just about upon us once more, and so is the full moon.  i will be spending loads of time in the greenhouse this weekend - and doing a bit of  housekeeping and starting seeds.  the greenhouse is full of perennials and the surviving tropicals.  i'll need to move things around. the H has become very clever, in figuring out how to keep things warm in there, without spending an arm and a leg.  so far, so good!  in the veg garden, i've planted 3 types of potatos.  they did very well for us last year, and i found myself wishing that i'd planted more - so we'll see how this goes. we finally realized that the best way to go for good veggies is raised beds.  we finally got tired of fighting with the sandy soil.  we still need to make some more of those.  we are quite happy with them, and we've managed to grow some very respectable carrots and there is one bed filled with collard greens.   i did plant some pansies in the GG's little garden.  they're doing very well.  i am a bit disappointed that the larkspur seeds didn't germinate as well as i had hoped.  oh well, that's just life in the garden.  it should be quite an interesting year!

blessings to you and all that you grow.   Namaste

In every gardener there is a child who believes in The Seed Fairy. ~Robert Brault,rbrault.blogspot.com

a Southern Gardener's limbo

"The breezes taste
Of apple peel.
The air is full
Of smells to feel-
Ripe fruit, old footballs,
Burning brush,
New books, erasers,
Chalk, and such.
The bee, his hive,
Well-honeyed hum,
And Mother cuts
Chrysanthemums.
Like plates washed clean
With suds, the days
Are polished with
A morning haze."-   John Updike, September

last night's moon.  Venus was not nearly as bright as the night before, but still quite lovely. 

too bad! the kale seeds i planted a few weeks ago all sprouted - and promptly withered away in the heat!  *sighs*....i'll try again with it next month. 

as you can see in this pic, the broccoli has become lunch for some leafhoppers or something. but if i had waited any longer to plant them, then they would not get established well enough before the weather starts cooling down enough to have a frost. yeah....i know.  it's a bit of a way off for us, but we do need to consider those things. tonight i'll get out there just at dusk and spray everything with some Neem.  with fingers crossed, i'll hope for the best. 

here's a bit of Autumn decor in the GrandGoddess's garden. you can see our very sandy native soil, here along the North Carolina coast - which is why i compost like a mad woman.  Youngest Son gifted me with that garden cart a few Christmases ago. oh, in the distance you can see Chicken Central, which will be a topic for another blog on another day. 

a bit of Autumn decor here in the den. i say "here", because it is the same room which houses the computer.  i hesitate to call this area an 'altar'....i don't *do* things so formally.  but it is where i store my essential oils, incenses and oracle cards.

in the herb garden, the Feverfew which i grew from seed is blooming for the first time.  next year i'll start harvesting the flowers. alas, the Hyssop's lovely blossoms have all gone by now.

truth be told, i don't like the weather at this time of the year very much.  i've grown weary of the heat and humidity.  sinus and allergy problems abound. i take antihistamines when B is not here and i eat local honey.  i take heart, watching the leaves of the Dogwood and RiverBirch trees change - and i know that cooler and drier weather is indeed on the way.  the Autumn is  my very favorite season.  and in the meantime, Cosmo, KrystEl and Homey all  just keep on being their sweet selves.  days go by and time does indeed change all. 

Namaste.