Talking about weeds isn’t the most engrossing topic of gardening conversation, but it is oh so necessary! For a pesticide free yard, it’s pretty straight forward: smother and knock out the germinating seeds when they first nestle into your lawn in the fall, or yank them up from the roots when they emerge in the spring.
What?!?!?! Have we really just persevered through three consecutive days of twenty-degree weather in Texas? We beat our own low temperatures for March according to our local weatherman. So much for my snapdragons coming into their own and the columbine buds just getting ready to bloom. I sure do hope these next few days of warmer weather, sunshine spurts, and spring rains keep these favorite early spring flowers of mine alive, much less healthy. In these conditions, I can really see the benefits of mulching thoroughly over the winter!
One of my sisters sent me a quote about the patience gardeners must have from a book she is reading. I chuckled in amusement because I’m definitely not patient this time of year. I can’t wait to plant all those seeds I ordered from exotic catalogues. I meticulously examine my garden each morning waiting to see which bulbs have multiplied or which perennials didn’t make it.
Look how broccoli flourishes in the dead of winter in Texas! It’s its time and season to do so. I know it sounds silly, but today, I’m grateful for broccoli!
One of my favorite things to do in February is to snuggle up in a warm blanket with my back to the sun on a cloudless cold day and read a book, or write in my spirals. I’ll move my chair around to make sure I get as much warmth as possible as the sun arches across my back porch. All is cozy until the infamous Northers blow and I am startled out of my revery and clamor to seek some kind of barrier from the biting wind.
When I haven’t been able to go home since I can’t ever move back to Lebanon, I’ve dug in at each location on my life’s journey and planted an herb garden, recreating the tastes and smells of home.As in the picture above, I’m sitting in front of the garden I dug up behind my apartment in college. Herbs gift me with a sense of permanence because most herbs are perennial, returning every year with self-seeding or self- rooting. I can count on my herbs’ consistent presence. An herb harvest is plentiful, yielding its bounty season after season. Herbs are easy to process whether used fresh or dried for later. And herbs grow like weeds because that’s basically what they are!