A weekend in the garden

I know Memorial Day weekend is typically the kick-off to summer, but this past weekend might have rivaled it this year. It really felt like summer. A perfect weekend for mission:garden. My friend and gardeness extraordinaire Mary (who has a garden and yard in Fort Collins that needs to appear in Sunset magazine - she and John grow tomatoes that warrant cages special-ordered from Texas that need a ladder to be retrieved) was doing her annual plant buying this weekend here in Boulder with her mom Peg. I was invited along on the outing to the fab garden center, Sturtz and Copeland. Saturday. 8 am.


our empty little patch of earth





I took the 8 am thing seriously - I mean, Mary and Peg don't mess around when it comes to plants, so I better keep up, right? When I arrived, there was a cluster of people around the door, waiting to get in. Well, they were employees. And yes, that sign says 'closed.' Mary and Peg arrived shortly thereafter.


After two hours perusing the plant life, I had choice selection of flowers, herbs and veggies. My new veggie this year? Kohlrabi, a cabbage-like wierd-looking thingie that's great in stirfries. Tastes a bit like a broccoli stalk.


Me, Peg, and Mary. (I met Mary in Fort Collins when we were getting our undergrad degrees.)


The planted earth. Lots of seeds this year, so not much to show... yet. Oh, and some containers with flowers, too. Our soil leaves much to be desired, so we'll see what grows. Somehow we had a pretty good bounty last summer, so I'll hope for that again! One thing I did learn this year: plant the zucchini in the farthest corner of the garden, with lots of room for it to spill out into the yard.