GARDEN POST
(pun intended!)

Lana's back in Chilly Chattanoooga (22 today) after a totally fun visit over XMas. Now cold-ish days here portend the garden-to-be.

So, as in Lincoln, I conscripted myself to make some garden boxes. This time, the design is a little different, making a frame so I can wrap some screen around the box, keeping out the vermin of the 'hood: squirrels, cats and armadillos.

So, from ten til four-thirty, this was a six hour project. And the boxes I built the night before! What, you ask, took so long?!^* Pulling long tendrile roots out of the sandy soil. Weeding the crabgrass roots. Turning the soil and looking for grubs to pull out. Then mixing in leaves and pine needles to level the soil as a platform for the boxes. Cutting a tarp to fit in the bottom. And... filling the boxes with bagged topsoil mixed with "native" soil, a mix of sand and contractor-added topsoil.

Next up, some plants after the last frost date.

The good news is that the farmer's market here -- Neptune Beach -- had great greens and NEW bringers of bread. Yes, there is a future! Bread form non-commercial kitchens, one from a farmers' "friend". Good stuff, really home-made and unlike what you will find in Whole Foods or other markets.

To seal the deal this weekend, we took home a "growler"from a local beer hall that has rotating guest beers from around Florida and makes their own brews as well.