Mar
24
Written by:
Susan.Eccher
3/24/2009 2:57 PM
Spring is definitely in the air! Well, at least down here in Florida! I must say we have the most wonderful weather in winter, autumn and spring. (Notice I am not touching summer which is more like revved-up steam-room). So, it's spring here in Jacksonville, FL, and planting has begun in our backyard! My industrious husband built an herb garden 3 years ago, and a larger vegetable garden last spring. (Check out the guide he put together on this site on how to build the garden).
We have always loved fresh herbs, but find them to be rather expensive at the grocery stores. So the herb garden gets a lot of use ... and we are NOT gardeners! It's really easy to maintain: it's small in size, doesn't need much from us to grow. We chose a mostly sunny spot -- since the summers are so blazing hot here, we selected a spot that gets some shade from a nearby tree, but also full sun part of the day. The herbs that have done the best here are rosemary and garlic-chives. They just grow and grow and I couldn't kill them if I tried. Especially the rosemary, that thing is practically a bush and none of the few freezes we've had over the last few years has touched it. The garlic-chives also just keep coming back. We also do well with parsley and basil (our favorite, so this year we planted more in the vegetable garden).
Mostly our garden is about fun and education for the kids. We grew an enormous sunflower last summer, and even some carrots (my 4-year old was very proud)! Sad to report the squirrels got to the sunflowers before we could ... this year we'll have to do something about that. During the winter we even grew some salad greens, and they were actually quite good. We've also planted tomatoes, corn (not much from that last year, but it was great fun to watch) and peppers. My husband also planted 3 banana trees just a couple of weeks ago. He likes his bananas. We'll see what happens with those.
But this is something that really ANYONE can do that has any size yard! Pick a sunny spot and go for it ... even if you start off just with herbs, you'll be glad you did (and so will your wallet). Last year we made pesto, and flavored olive oil as gifts ... I'll let you know what we do this year later in the summer. It's terrific for children -- even the Obama's are doing it now!
Here in Florida, we also have the luxury of growing fruit. We have a small orange tree in our yard that gave us 3 oranges last year (yippee!). We are, however, quite terribly spoiled with fresh, organic citrus from my mother's backyard! My parents live in St. Augustine, out on the St. Johns River, and have a lot of citrus trees in their backyard. They have lemon, orange and grapefruit trees that simply overflow our counters with fruit every winter. It is delightful. I now have a freezer full of lemon juice and zest to use all year long. My oranges and grapefruits get eaten too quickly, but my parents usually juice enough to last until the next crop is ready. What a blessing!
So jump right in and make a backyard organic garden -- herb or vegetable or both, you will love it and you'll be doing something good for the earth.