May saw the garden begin to come to life with the return of our perennial herbs, flowers and fruiting bushes and trees. The heirloom radishes were the first vegetable ready for picking come mid May. We are now awaiting the arrival of our first batch of carrots, beets and peas. The peach trees are dripping with baby peaches on every branch-fingers crossed they all come to ripe juicy fruit. The comfrey plants have burst into a mass of green dotted with hundreds of pretty purple bells. Potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkin, melon, cucumber, eggplant, okra, corn, artichoke, sweet and hot peppers, and beans round out the vegetable crops and are all looking strong and healthy thus far.
The bees are still working on filling the brood box. I still have a raw rapadura feeder for them until they are well on their way to needing a super added to their hive. The rosemary plants did not survive the harsh winter, although we did wrap them in burlap for protection. We started fresh with new plants and are looking to turn the front yard into an “herb yard”-filled with rosemary, thyme, sage, chives, mint and other perennial herbs that the deer won’t bother.
These are the days we spend outside with our hands and feet in the earth, stewarding our crops and harvesting their gifts. Hard work but so rewarding, therapeutic and educational.
If you have never grown food or flowers before I urge you try it. I suggest growing radishes-they are so easy and quick to harvest. For flowers, try nasturtiums-they are beautiful shades of reds, oranges and yellows and are edible!
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