Another week of caring for the baby seedlings. My boyfriend and I are both working a lot now and we share a car. So, I still have not gotten to visit my garden at the farm this week. We have made a plan to go on April 12th. Hopefully I can keep these plants alive for 10 more days until they can go to their new home. I am also planning to attend a seed exchange at my local library that day. I have over a hundred plants started and most of these are still doing well. The weather has been a little crazy since it is Oklahoma in spring. Very windy and some surprisingly chilly nights here and there. I am trying to leave my plants outside on the balcony as much as possible because it is a pain to move them in and out. Now, I have a small balcony jungle. My boyfriend bought me a new plant for the farm this week, a hardy pink lantana Miss Huff. I saw some beautiful clematis flowers at Marcum’s Nursery when I went to pick out the lantana. I also bought a eucomis bulb or pineapple lily there which I am excited to plant. I have so many things to plant but so little time. I am a bit sad because I missed the tulips and daffodils this year. However, my boyfriend was able to stop by the farm to check on the cat and he got some photos for me. I hope to catch the large rose bush blooming this year, I think it was in May last year. There’s a potential freeze this weekend and I really hope it doesn’t. I suppose it is for the best that I haven’t been able to plant anything the past few weeks since a freeze could still occur. Technically the final freeze date is April 15th but I hope to be good to plant more in the garden on the 12th. I noticed that the chamomile I planted on my apartment balcony was getting crowded out by what I believed to be clover. It was not. Upon closer inspection, it was something called chickweed. I had to pull some out to make space for the chamomile. Apparently, chickweed is edible but I didn’t try it. Speaking of clover, we planted some at the farm last year as a cover crop. It really took off this year and has become a clover forest. The grass is also very lush in my bulb area although I spent a hot minute pulling grass in the fall during planting. However, the clover is crowding out other plants so will need to be tamed. Clover is also edible. A few other things are coming up including phlox and wallflower. The Eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly loves the phlox. My salad greens area is starting to grow and the asparagus has come up. My sister sent me some seeds in the mail that are 22 years old. I wonder if they will grow, gonna find out! The seed pack was made so long ago that my zone has changed since then. It has been a busy week and I have only had a little time for drawing and cooking and other fun activities. I didn’t even have time to plan a successful prank for April Fools Day this year. I do believe time is more precious than money because you can get more money but you can’t get more time. Although, I wouldn’t mind having more of both so I could pursue my many hobbies. I heard someone say that the gardener is a person who has hope for tomorrow. One of the things I like about gardening is that it gives me something to look forward to. Something to look forward to is a good thing to have.
Lisa Ledbetter 