GIFTS FROM YOUR CREATIVE HEART

Tomato teenagers and eggs ready to go

I love to give gifts, considering just the right one, wrapping it beautifully to match the person or gift, the anticipation of it being opened and the connection that is shared. 

This morning I put together baskets of my tomato plants for friends, some friends have been SilverSun Ranch tomato fans for several years now, so the history is deep. This is my favorite gift because it is from my deepest creative heart. 6 months in the making....I have poured over seed catalogs, planted one tiny seed to wait like a kid at Christmas for the first sign of life to pop through the dirt, sent the list to tomato fans, been intrigued and enjoyed seeing their responses and decisions, watered, talked to, transplanted to the big kid pot and now packing these tomato teenagers up and sending them away with my love, hope and promise that they will grow beautifully, produce madly and be enjoyed.

These special gifts can come in so many packages. My friend Michelle upon hearing that I was in an wardrobe rut, sent me a huge basket of fashion magazines, cookies, trail mix and some exotic tea. BUT, she had gone through each magazine and using tiny post its and a sharpie she pointed out items that would look good on me! It was so personal and from her creative heart that it insprired me to create a fashion wall, that to this day I change up every season. I think about Michelle almost every morning.....

My fashion wall, yes that is my tutu!

Thanks Michelle

Find what comes from your creative heart and give, give, give. Our world needs it!

Ok, enough about the "growth" of our soul.....

When planting Tomatoes:

* From dirt up, cut off 2-4 leaf fingers, where the leaves where will be buried and become strong roots for you plant

* always start with a hole at least 2x your plant, measure how far down based on your new plant top above ground

* break up the root ball a bit

* add some crushed egg shells mixed with a organic plant starter at the bottom of the hole. Tomatoes love calcium.

* fill dirt only half way and water to allow dirt to settle

* finished adding dirt ending in a mound so you create a moat around the plant and water again.

* visit everyday. Tomatoes are like newborns, they love a regular feeding schedule

"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" Matthew 6:21 

Caddyshack

YES GOPHERS!!!!

In prepping for a successful growing season these guys need to be dealt with. Three years ago we had our first gopher experience. Irene and I were watching a watermelon grow, every morning we would go out to the garden and check our little gem. Watermelon is Irene's favorite food so eating it was a highly anticipated day. We went out to possibly pick our long awaiting treat only to find it was gone. Irene cried and I started looking. The little devil had picked the watermelon, eaten half and left the other  half sitting on top of the compost pile!!! Perhaps polite, but that began my hunt for the best organic gopher elimination. I tried cayenne pepper, juicy fruit gum, those noisy vibrating spikes, the tube with the gopher trap, a the hose (above) and even considered night vision goggles and a pellet gun....I think my friend Frankie tried this? Then one day at my local garden I saw "gopher spurge", read the tag and bought several plants and panted them around the garden.......so far - so good.

Be very careful with it as it is poisonous and very invasive. It should always be handled with gloves and although the flower is very pretty the sap is like acid. Keep it pruned and throw what you don't want in a plastic bag and then the trash.

How we love sequestering, where no pests are pestering. Lorenz Hart ·

more dirt....

 I like these products from Home Depot when I don't get a truck load!!

This potting soil you can use straight from the bag, it's a bit pricey so I only use it for plants that produce food.

This is a great amendment for either clay or sandy soil, it should be well mixed with your existing dirt.....just think how nice your arms will look!

and while we are talking looking good; remember you sunscreen, glasses and a hat. save your expensive sunscreen for everything else. For gardening and working out, use something that you don't mind slathering a giant handful of. That is the biggest problem with the expensive ones, you use sparingly because the per use cost is high. I like Nutrogena's sport face, it about $9, not greasy and 70 SPF. Don't forget your neck and chest, remember the wattle???

“To the illumined man or woman, a clod of dirt, a stone, and gold are the same.”  Bhagavad Gita

DIRT!!!

How is yours? As we dream and plan our summer fruit, vegetable and flower gardens, dirt should be at the top of your list. Water may be #1, but dirt is a close second. Get IN THE DIRT - feel it, smell it and see what is living in it. If it does not smell alive, you need to show it some love. Does your dirt feel like clay and is sticky? or is it sandy? Start by giving it and yourself a workout, dig! Turn the solid over at least 1 1/2 feet down.....did you see any worms? if not, put them on your list to get at the garden center. they are natures cultivators! Once your dirt is nice a broken up, feed it with some amendments. If you have clay heavy dirt, you need something to break up soil so roots can grow and water can reach the roots. iI it is sandy, add organic humus to feed and build it up. Usually a general organic soil amendment will do the trick, but if you are concerned, take your dirt to a good garden center and they can help or the easy soil testing kits work great too. I like to turn, amend, water and then let it sit a week before putting anything in it....well except those worms! If you need more dirt than your car will hold, check on-line for who will deliver dirt ready to plant...always organic. 

Happy Hens

Our flock of 28 hens are their happiest when they can roam around our yard...luxuriating in a "dirt bath", scratching in the dirt in search of an unfortunate worm, uncovering a cache of pill bugs, or just simply pecking around. They show their appreciation for their time out of their coop by providing us with the most glorious eggs...brown, green, aqua and ocher in color...with the most intense yellow yolks I've ever seen. Our "girls" are quite loved!

Good day to dig.

The weather's perfect for digging in the dirt...
I dug a whole today to install an in-line low flow valve for our
Ficus tree hedge.

I have never understood New Years Resolutions. You make this plans of renewal when you feel the worst after weeks, maybe months of indulging too much, the weather is gray and sad and no fun times to look forward to for months.....but ahhhhhh the first wisps of spring, when the earth is waking up and the first neon green is showing, that is the time to make some promises and hopes for yourself! I am no happier than discovering a new life starting from one little seed, sometimes like this one wearing it's shell as a hat. Get out there, take a walk and see the tiny wonders making their resolutions!