"Those who bring SUNSHINE into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves." - J.M. Barrie

It was a lovely morning to be in the peace patch. The sun was shining brightly and all of the garden plants were excitedly soaking up the warm rays. Upon arriving to the patch, the first thing to catch the eye is the two greenhouse starter trays on the ground next to the shed, which were thriving with seedlings of broccoli, zucchini, tomatoes, okra, cucumber, herbs and more! The zucchinis were transplanted into bed 9 by the mid-afternoon shift, and in the early morning shift we made some room for the broccoli in bed 10 after moving some of the excess soil into beds 6 and 7, which were lacking. We were careful, while transplanting, not to tear the clustered roots of the broccoli, whose starters were busting at the seams. After giving the transplants a watering, we opted to hold off on watering everything else in the garden. Although, the afternoon shift did water the starters that seemed quite dry. Some plants are fairing better than others, which seem to need some more time drying out and the sunny opportunity has finally presented itself!

The corn is not where we’d hoped it would be in terms of health and height and the pole beans are busting through and ready to find something to climb. The morning shift investigated a strange phenomena occurring in the aloe bed…not sure if the soil is too wet or if something is eating it. Some of the points are shriveled and browned and some plants are just falling apart. Check out the picture, if you can.... What do you think?

The wildflower bed is filling in with sprouting green leaves of soon-to-be-blooming flora. The zucchini, tomatoes, new pineapple and collards are all looking awesome. The kale is still healthy, but needs to be harvested and shared before it turns bad. Those who have already tasted the delectable greens say that they are simply delicious! The compost looks the best it ever has now that it is layered properly and not aerated as much, allowing it to build more internal heat and the morning crew contributed a hefty load of fresh compost.

The children’s hard work is most certainly paying off and the classes are tracking the growth of their plants, comparing them to other bean beds and hypothesizing why some beans are growing at different rates and seeming “happier” than others. Both of the afternoon shifts did scavenger hunts with their classes today, which went great!

All in all, it was another fabulous day in the edible peace patch and this Florida sunshine is more than welcome in our garden any day! It sure is good to see one's shadow! Let’s hope the sun will continue to grace us with its illumination and warmth more and more in the upcoming weeks as things continue to grow.

{** Many apologies for blurry cell-phone photography. We had some technical difficulties with the digital camera**}