I realize that I haven’t posted in about a week, which is quite a long time compared to my normal rotation. We’ve been blessed with wonderful weather outside, and I’ve been afflicted with a drive to take every available second of my time, and spend it working in our garden. Yes, the aquariums have suffered a little bit, so for now, I may as well update you on the garden.

I’ve started putting a few things out in the raised brick pond, with the most prominent being a severely trimmed back onion plant that I got from another GWAPA member. I potted the two stalks in their own pot with some fresh aquasoil, and planted Marsilea quadrafolia and Riccia fluitans around it. Unfortunately, I think the tannins in the aquasoil has stained the water a bit brown for the time being.

Elsewhere in the garden, I’ve prepared a number of beds, transplanting some plants into the soil, while in others, I’ve planted seeds, such as the Okra seeds above.

I’ve setup my usual tripod for pole beans, but this time, am experimenting growing some grape tomatoes underneath the same tripod, which should hopefully act as a nice tomato cage. I also added some everbearing strawberries in the bed around the tripods, which hopefully should be fully established by next spring.

The grape vine has new growth shooting out all over the place, with countless little grape clusters starting to form like the one above. Last year, nearly all of the grapes were enjoyed by birds (or possibly neighborhood kids), so we’ll just have to wait and see how it all pans out this fall.

Also leftover from last year, the collard greens have all gone to flower, sending up 6 foot tall shoots, covered with pretty yellow flowers. The blooms have really added a nice touch of color to the garden while most of the other plants are just starting to get going.

We’ve got a vast array of herbs in the garden, which eventually end up in some wonderfully seasoned, fresh meals throughout the summer. So far, this years’ herbs should include parsley, oregano, rosemary, dill, sage, lemon grass, lemon basil, Thai basil, Italian basil, lavender, marjoram, catnip, spearmint, cilantro, chives, and chamomile.

Finally, I’ve hung up some beautiful baskets of purslane from a great local nursery near us. Hardy, ever-blooming, and drought-resistant, they’re almost the unkillable, beautiful flower. And did I mention that they’re pretty?

Now that most of my garden plants are in the ground, I’m hoping to get back to my aquariums. Aquarium updates coming this week, I promise!

It’s almost one of my favorite times of the year — gardening time. Yes, of course, I garden aquatically all year round, but seldom am I able to actually serve any of my aquatic plants to guests for dinner. Each year, our backyard garden has grown a little bit, stealing grass from our dog’s domain.

It’s kind of how many aquarists (myself included) start with one tank, and soon have so many fish and plants packed into one, that they decide to expand to 2 tanks, and before they know it, they’ve got aquariums spread throughout the house.

For our garden seeds this year, we came across a wonderful non-profit organization called the Seed Savers Exchange. Their mission is to promote the use of heirloom varieties of vegetables in gardens so that these plants are not lost to the myopic selection of seeds that agribusiness generally makes available in big box stores. I believe this fuels the gardener’s version of collectoritis as they offer purple carrots, yellow tomatoes, tons of potatoes, native american vegetables, and on and on.

A few days ago, we planted the seeds in a seed-starting dome, and today I noticed that a number of seeds have sprouted into little plants. The various squash varieties have been the most prolific, but our tomatoes and cucumbers are also on their way. Only the various varieties of peppers we planted have yet to break the surface, but that’s to be expected.

I’m a bit new to starting plants from seed as most of our windowsills are too small for flats, and our dogs and cats are too nosy for other areas. This flat is sitting next to one of my aquariums with a strip light over top. I hope it’s enough light. I can’t wait until it’ll be warm enough (about a month) to transplant these guys. Is anyone else suffering from garden fever?