Bumble Bees

The bumble bees are loving the hollyhocks. About 5 of them were flying in and out of the blossoms last night. You can see how one is just full of pollen. It was all over him!

Gathering Dandelion Seed

I took this picture just before I started cleaning the seeds fron the dandelion heads. Yes, they do grow wild in the yard, but I also want to have a controlled patch as well.

A Papaya Forest

In the Florida garden, we decided that we wanted a papaya tree, and as they are pretty fast growing, decided to begun from seed.

Now, knowing what the seed success ratio can be, we decided to just throw all of the seed that we pulled out of the fruit, into a small raised bed. We figured we'd get a handful to successfully start. What we got, was a forest of baby papaya.

So, now we are selecting, thining and giving away. It is amazing as to how many of those seeds took. I stopped counting!

Cukes Blossoming

The first blossom on the Japanese cucumber plant (as it isn't a "vine" yet). Except for some of the various wild berries, this is the first garden blossom for the year!

Dandelion Head Harvest

Harvesting dandelion heads today for seed. I want to have a controlled patch, so I thought I would go out and gather heads that have gone to seed. Because there is no dew this morning (meaning it will probably rain today), it was a good time to get the dry heads before the seeds scattered.

A Garden "Re Use"

I like to recycle/reuse when possible. Sometimes creativity and other times the new use is staring me right in the face, as with this crappy old clothes rack that I found in the barn. It should be the perfect trellis support for my Japanese cucumber. It isn't pretty, but it should be getting covered in the very near future anyway!

Violet Time!

The wild violets that I leave in the garden at the 1840s Farm are coming in nicely. Unlike the violets you buy for the house, these flowers are edible. They can be candied, sugared, used in salads and as a garnish.

EPCOT Flower and Garden Show

Upon entering the Flower and Garden Show at EPCOT, we were greeted by no other than farmers Mickey and Minnie!

Hydroponics at Disney

When I go to Disney, I take the greenhouse tour every year. So many neat things going on there. It is also where I purchased my vanilla orchid.

This picture shows eggplant. Although this is hydroponic, my goal is to work in conventional gardening to get some of these same results for the home gardener.

Starting from Seed

I like to try starting things from seed. So, I thought I would try my hand at some citrus. My key lime tree is over a year old, and the smaller seedlings are orange trees.

I do seem to be running into a slight problem with the key lime, as you can see, some of the leaves are folding in on themselves. Usually means that something is up with it. Now I have to pin it down.

Lettuce Under Water.....

The lettuce seeds I planted in an old bucket have started to sprout. Little, but they're coming, even with this overly cold weather.

However, we had one big storm about 2AM and when I took the dog out this morning, found the poor little sprouts about an inch under water. I poured the water out, then covered to protect from the rain we're supposed to have today yet. Hopefully, the bucket isn't so soaked that it will rot the sprouts out. We'll see.

Well, our second, though unexpected experiement. A good one though.

Spirit Seed and Garden Program

The Spirit Seed and Garden Program is an experimental program I have started to work on ways bring emergency gardens to those in disaster areas, areas where the soil might not be suitable (or so it seems) for growing or space is an issue.


There is lots of experimentation going on for alternative ways to garden for large production, but nothing that, for the most part, the average person can use. And while there have been ways, which I have seen myself, that could eventually be utilized in a realistic situation, the work is not being carried out in that direction, instead being done in highly controlled circumstances the likes of which is not possible for most people to replicate.

I will be working to find the right plants that could grow quickly in emergency circumstances, working as much as I can with heirlooms. I will also start working with selected hybrids in an effort to breed back to true breeds that might still hold some of the favourable characteristics the parent hybrid may have, (like fast growing, disease resistance) while bringing them back to a true plant where the seed can be saved to reproduce.

Within a few years (or less) I hope to be having workshops, publications, etc. with results that will be able to be put into real use.

At this point I am working to obtain major corporate sponsorships to begin full time operations and (hopefully) relocate the program to be year round, instead of seasonal. If your company is interested, please feel free to contact me.

As Spirit Seed and Garden is tied to NCH, and those who follow this blog will most likely find the experiments of use, SSG will be part of  and found on the NCH blog.

Seeds...Seeds...Seeds.....

I picked up some seed packets today. Let's see....Chicory (Italian Dandelion), Cress, Cubanelle Pepper (supposed to be good for frying...I love to stuff peppers with cheese, dip in batter and fry...we'll see how these work), Baby Boo Mini White Pumpkins, Jack Be Little Mini Orange Pumpkins, Giant Bottle Gourd, Mesclun and Lemon Cucumber (for something different).

We're having a bit of a thaw...but still lots of white stuff on the ground!

New To Gardening?

2 short podcasts just published for "newbies" to gardening. It isn't too early to start think....even if you have snow on the ground!

Podcasts link is in the left column.