‘Tis the season to get down and dirty. I’m doing it. It feels great. Over Easter weekend, I picked a sunny backyard location, put concrete blocks on the ground, then a large round container on top. It looks like stone but it is the lightweight synthetic stuff, less expensive and even better – and it was on sale.
I guess, the formal gardeners call this approach “raised bed gardening”, yep, really raised, so less bending over, easier on the old backbone. I like this part.
Spent some time happily digging up great dirt from the compost pile. My, those earthworms have been busy! Egg shells, orange rinds, leftover lettuce, onion skins, all magically changed into rich dark soil. Not like the sand in the yard (this is Florida, we’re built on sand and limestone). By the way, I have compost to give away if anyone wants some. Bring your own bucket. I’ll fill it up.
Next a trip to the plant store. One the way I saw several people in their front yards on their hands and knees, trowel in hand, planting flowers. They were smiling.
Brought home eggplant, arugula, peppers and tomatoes. Also seeds for zucchini, lettuce and nasturtiums (the flowers are lovely and are edible – I like them on top of salads, taste lemony!). Bought some starter seed plugs and planted seeds.
And I didn’t forget the butterflies. A red penta now sits next to a large fennel plant. The penta attracts butterflies, like the smell of fast food. They drink the nectar then look around to see if there is a host plant to lay their eggs. Ah yes, swallowtails lay their eggs on fennel plants. Nearby I have milkweed plants and monarchs lay their eggs on these. An arbor with passion vines serves the gulf fritteries and the zebra longwings.
By having both nectar and host plants, you get butterflies for life – they come, have dinner, stick around to lay eggs, then caterpillars emerge, eat leaves, get fat, change into chrysalis, and finally emerge as butterflies. How cool is that? This means, of course, that you won’t be using pesticides as they kill butterflies. Organic, pesticide free – Mother Earth thanks you.
Spring. Rejuvenation. Seeding the future. It is a down and dirty work in progress.
Lucy Beebe Tobias is a freelance writer, photographer and artist in Ocala, Florida. Her book 50 Great Walks in Florida was published February, 2008 by University Press of Florida. She is the Authentic Florida expert for Visit Florida.