And back to cold weather...

Winter harvest.

It's been warm recently and yesterday, it was in the mid 80s! My Lollo Rosso lettuce has bolted (flowered) and has become bitter--not so bitter that we don't still eat it, but it's certainly past its prime. On the other hand my sugar snap peas started blooming again and have produced a bunch of new pods.

My husband and I enjoyed a main course pear salad using all this lettuce and some of the come-again broccoli and peas. The next night we enjoyed a stir fry using the rest of the broccoli, peas and some wild garlic from the garden.  We love eating out of the garden.

This is the 5th or 6th round of small curds from the broccoli plants after the initial big florets. We like these better because they grow so quickly that they are sweeter. The plants are working so hard to produce seed and I keep interrupting them. Eventually, I'll allow them to flower when the next crop of broccoli starts to produce.

My new book is here!!

There are freeze warnings for tonight and the next few nights so my more recently planted cool-weather crops might have a chance to mature before the real heat hits later in the spring.  For now, the tomato and pepper seedlings are spending their nights in the garage.

The books are here!

My new book has arrived. Now I have to get busy and send copies to all the people who helped along the way. It's a long list! Thanks everyone; the book is beautiful.

Senator Rob Bradley and me.

Senator Rob Bradley

This evening I went to a reception for Rob Bradley at his new Clay County office. He's our senator for the Florida legislature.

I called him after the election to congratulate him on his victory and to convince him that environmental issues are important for the state of the state. By protecting Florida's ecosystems, we are helping businesses in many ways. Later he invited me to speak before the Clay County Delegation.

I wrote about my preparations for that encounter in my post over on the Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens blog: Supporting wildlife beyond your garden gate.

This evening I talked to his policy person, other members of his staff, and a bunch of other folks who attended the reception. Always good to work a room.

A Muscovy duck came a-calling

 A beggar...

 A Muscovy duck came to our front door the other day.  There is a small group of these Mexican natives that lives on our lake, but our house is not that close to the water and we'd never seen them in our pond out front. But this drake decided to say hello.

Maybe he was looking for a handout. When we told him that in our sustainable yard the birds have to find their own food, he turned tail and left.




I'm hoping the cool weather stays for a while. It is mid-winter after all.

Green Gardening Matters,
Ginny Stibolt