The battle is not over, nor is the war

As the unrelenting sun beat down upon us, many familiar battles were fought in the peace patch today. The trench around the perimeter of the garden was finished. I don’t think we will need to worry about trench rot though as the weeks draw closer to the dry season and as we don’t believe in wearing thick boots during our deployments. We are now pressed with the need to find good soil to fill the trench with, soil that will support the growth of the marigold and sunflower border protection (beautification really). We spent a great deal of time watering the young recruits in the beds and starter trays as well as the higher ranking crape myrtles and Florida natives throughout the garden. The gourd is still hanging in there and showing great potential to make a full recovery from the battle wound it sustained at some point this summer. The corn, watermelon, and sweet potatoes are growing specifically well. The watermelon plant alone has grown twice the size it was since the last time I was in the garden a week ago. We battled fiercely against the sedge vermin invading and attempting to overthrow our command. This task will hopefully be an activity the young officers joining us next week will find entertaining in the future. We graciously obtained the compost from the cafeteria and added it to the compost pile. We also turned the compost to keep it aerated and to keep the grass from taking (it is sneaky like that). Tomorrow we are hoping to pick up some mature pineapple plants donated by Kathy Griggs and John Edwards. Her donation is greatly appreciated by the garden team. These pineapple will be planted around the three sisters adding another aesthetic and delicious border. There was a torrential downpour this evening leaving the team hopeful there will be more to follow to ease the worries we have that the seedlings and plants are not getting enough water. Even still, tomorrow promises to be an exciting day for those of us continuing the fight.