It's that time of year...

Okay, so clearly...I am not terribly good at keeping up with a blog. Sadly, I am also not terribly good at winter gardening. I can be honest with myself now...winter and me are just not friends...I don't like the cold. This winter, instead of cultivating beautiful fall/winter broccoli and sweet onions and fall spinach...I grew weeds, mushrooms (not any of the good kind) and some slugs. They were all delightful...I found them the other day when I finally uncovered my garden for the first time since the frost hit back in October.

Needless to say, it is finally time to garden again! Which means it is also time to blog again (I promise, I will get better at this).  The first sign that it was time to garden soon...my beautiful orchid baby began to show buds again. I really just don't care what anyone says about orchids mine loves me. I give it plenty of water and it sits in a window with direct sunlight in the afternoon and it grows like a weed! Don't be afraid of your orchids...I give it a good dousing of water about every two weeks, sometimes more often depending on how dry I think the house is feeling or how dry the soil looks. My best compass for my orchid...a bamboo plant sitting in the same window. When the water level drops below the rocks and I need to rewater the bamboo...I water the orchid. They are both happy plants!

As for my garden, I have plans in place...and a new garden decoration that I can't wait to install. Last weekend I cleared all of the mushrooms and weeds. I gave a little love to the one broccoli plant that refuses to give up even though I really tried to kill them all off this winter.  I gave a once over with some sulfur to help reduce the fungus that has OBVIOUSLY (hello...I grew mushrooms) grown in my garden so that when I plant my new foods I am starting with a good strong soil. I also purchased some good organic slug repellent and put some down just to help remind the slugs that this is MY garden...not theirs. I have high hopes for doing my starts some time this week/weekend. Since we are still getting some nasty cold nights I will start them in the house, let them get stronger, and then transplant them in hopes that this year I can plant from seeds instead of more mature plants that I don't know where they have come from.

I made a new friend at the local farm store and I plan to pick his brain now and again. He seems really knowledgeable on organic gardening and based on his potential age has likely been doing this for a while. *fingers crossed*

YAY! For garden season!! Oh...before I forget...I also planted some flowers this year in the front yard area. I have 3 planter boxes and will also have 6 round planters, 2 of which have volunteers from last year already coming back. So, bring on the sunshine and lets see some pretty blossoms and yummy food!!!