A Snowbird in Paradise

In Progress and finished. It has taken about a week since my son suggested planting vegetables in the space left by the lemon-mint. Now there's a plant that, though wonderful for tea, will take over your life! It took a lot of weed-killer but it finally didn't come up this spring. But the grass did. More weed killer and my son's hard work cultivating it. How could I say no to veggies?

Way back in the late 70s and the 80s I grew all sorts of things in Square-Foot gardens back at the old house. One year the children and I grew all miniature crops; cantaloupes the size of golf balls, single-serving watermelons, cherry tomatoes, little corn (cute shocks for Halloween that year), little cabbages and bib lettuce, cucumbers. Another year it was all cutting garden flowers, but, thanks to the PBS-TV show at the time, this was how I learned to make a vegetable garden.

So, since my books were long gone, loaned out and never returned, I checked the internet to find Mel Bartholomew had a new book out. Thanks to Amazon.com's special speedy delivery, we were buying supplies the next day. My son constructed the frames and grids, poured in the 12 bags of garden mix soil, and I planted the veggie plants. The seeds I will plant with my granddaughter later this week.

I put down 7-10 layers of newspapers my son got from the recycling center, and covered that over with several inches of mulch. I didn't skimp because I don't want to fight weeds again next year.

We have in the garden:
5 kinds of tomato plants
yellow and green long squash
cucumbers
cantaloupe
sweet peppers
hot peppers
and seeds for
lettuce
green peppers.

I want to get carrots and raddishes also. Maybe some corn.

We have another open area where I eventually want to plant more roses. There may be a third garden after all. That would be good for the root crops into the late fall.

A couple of days ago the Baltimore Oriole stopped by again. Before I could grab the camera he was off again. I had just enough time to set the camera back on the tripod and get it ready and in a flash of orange and black he was in the birdbath, splashing away.

This isn't the best photo but at least he is in the yard, now. If he will just pose nicely on a feeding station I would be happier. I read that Orioles like oranges so I will try that.