PLANTS, PLANTS and MORE PLANTS

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.”
Psalm 24:1-2

The last couple months have been filled with lots of plant opportunities. 

 

 

The first was a hydroponic class at Living Towers - home to a 4,400 square foot, state-of-the-art greenhouse that produces organic herbs and vegetables using a water based growing system in numerous towers. 

 

 

The Tower Garden is a patented vertical food production system designed for home and commercial growers that allows growers to produce edibles in one third of the time and in 10% of the space with 10% of the water.

 

I have had my Tower Garden for about 6 months, but wanted to get a good start this spring by getting more information and purchasing some seedlings.  The class was very informative and it was great to see the variety of plants that can be grown and get some of the following tips:

• Seedlings should be placed in full sun 1 day after planting and can be placed in the tower 1 week after germination
• Use half the strength of mineral solution in a tower with all new seedlings or in summer
• Plant like a pyramid with larger plants at the bottom except for chard and celery which should be planted in the top section for easy removal
• Every other month, empty the tank and clean the pump
• Grow marigolds with vegetables to enhance bee pollination

 

The second opportunity was the Florida Wildflower & Garden Festival in downtown Deland which promotes environmentally-friendly and sustainable gardening practices, and features speakers, demonstrations and plant & gardening supply vendors!  My hubby and I attend every year and always come home with some plants as well as accessories for the garden and this year was no exception. 

 

We love the variety of plants available from our favorites like Full Moon Natives and Herbs,

 

 

but also found some new ones like Edenwood Gardens

 

 

 

as well as a new shop for dried herbs and teas – Spice of Life Herbs – where we purchased a copper teapot birdhouse accessory!

 

 

 

Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to Cunningham Herbs in Jacksonville for their 22nd Herbal Faire, but it looked great and we have their Mother’s Day event on our calendar!

 

Finally, we spent time in Ft. Collins, Colorado with family that included a lot of outdoor activities such as beginning a treehouse and planting seeds.

 

Our grandkids had already planted Resurrection Gardens with wheat seed, but we planted grass caterpillars to place in their individual raised bed gardens. 

 

 

 

We also tried a germination experiment by planting rows of seed on wet paper towels and placing in a closed environment (plastic ziplock bag) for 24 hours.  Only a few germinated, which will save time and effort when planting this spring!

Happy Gardening!

                                        Joyce