The garden at our old house

Happy Springtime, Everyone! I don’t know about you, but by this time of year my seed catalogs have been pillaged and the new batch of seedlings are in trays getting ready for the last frost to pass.

Gardening always gives me a feeling of accomplishment and security, even if all I manage that season are a few pots on the porch. There’s something wholesome about getting your hands into fresh earth and helping the seedlings grow robust over the summer. Breathing in the petrichor after a rain; eating that first ripe tomato, still warm from the sun and fresh from the vine… yum! I have not found tomatoes in any grocery store that can hold a candle to the flavor and beauty of home-grown heirlooms.

As this is our second summer in our new house, we’re putting a bit more effort into our home garden. We are hoping to save some of our own seed stock this year, so we need to let a few things, well… go to seed. Seed-saving is a great way to keep those plants you really like, and assure yourself that they will be available to you the next season.

Those of you who would like to try seed-saving, remember that you will need seeds that have not been hybridized. Case in point, I found an exceptionally tasty melon and saved the seeds, hoping to grow my own. I learned later on that this melon was a hybrid and the seeds were unlikely to produce fruit as good as the original. Sad movies for me!

I was successful with some Serrano peppers I found at a local farm market. That strain produced loads of some of the tastiest peppers with a great heat kick! I’m not sure if the seeds I have are that particular strain anymore (labels and dates are important, I’m told, lol!) but I’m going to give it a try. Hope for the best, I guess?

One last project I want to accomplish is the construction of a moon garden. I’ll post some pictures as the garden shapes up.

Until next time! Go get some mud on those boots!