Life everywhere

The crops are coming up fast, and everything looks beautiful. The warmth and the rainfall have given everything the right environment to really shoot up and begin maturing. Part of the challenge (and excitement) of organic gardening is that these conditions allow for life and growth not just for the things we want, but also the things we don't want. The weeds are doing exceptionally well - they wouldn't be weeds if they weren't. By 'doing well' I mean they are coming up everywhere and in greater numbers. We're going to really stay on top of weeding in order to keep them under control.

Life is showing up in other areas we'd rather them not. While digging around in the sweet potato bed today we found 3 grubs, and I'm sure there are more. Kaylie, who is Florida native, was surprised because she'd never actually seen one before. On the topic of sweet potatoes, we have been finding volunteer sweet potatoes all over the place. Surprising - I didn't think sweet potatoes would volunteer themselves so easily since the spuds we find are pretty decently sized, not exactly light enough to float around in the wind.

The first round of radishes are mature and we have been slowly harvesting them with the classes. Unfortunately we noticed there are some mites on the roots of them. We'll have to harvest them quick and plant a new round soon.

Another sign of good news - today we saw a Monarch butterfly floating around the flower patch and the milkweed bush. He/she seemed to be desperately searching for a milkweed bud to land on but there were none to be found. We have received the butterfly bush sprouts so we'll be putting those into the ground next week. Until then the butterflies will just have to enjoy the other flowers that have been blooming rapidly.

Things are starting to look very good in the garden, and it seems like it's given everyone a new optimism. For a little while during the abnormally cold period we were a little worried about this season's harvest, but now we are all confident that the harvest festival in 5 weeks will be full of delicious edibles grown in the garden. The first radishes and the first beans have already surfaced!