I love my fly fishing, but I have other interests, too. One of them is maintaining a 1,000 sq. ft. vegetable and herb garden. I also grow roses, and I do flower gardens and flowering shrubs. Did I mention my lawn?
Right now is planting time. I plant by the moon, so I have a week to work the earth and get my veggies off to a strong start. I spent the last two days digging and planting a large perennial flower garden, and replacing the eight roses that didn’t make it through the winter. I’m sure you don’t want to hear my problems, but my entire 65-year-old body is one great mass of stiff and sore. So today’s an inside day.
Why am I telling you this? Save for a guide trip next week, I’m not going fishing for a while. I may repost some oldies but goodies in the next 7-10 days, and then we’ll get back to more timely, original content. I just wanted to let you know. Of course, I appreciate your readership and your loyalty, so let me formally say thank you for that. Now, off to do all the desk chores I’ve been ignoring…
currentseams.com 
Love my flowers too! But I lost a few rose bushes this past winter! Ugh!Sent from my iPhone
Steve, that’s great! I’ve been planting gardens too now for years, mostly vegetables, but have learned there’s some value in adding some herbs & flowers around. My soil here is terrible, very sandy with a lot of silt, and it’s too acidic. It drains too well, and dries out quickly. It also gets very hot here in SC, and too often with little rain, which doesn’t help with a garden. I would like to hear more about the potting soil mixtures that you use. I’ve learned that if I transplant plants to the soil here, I have to do it in pods with plenty of potting soil, or the silt in the soil smothers the plants. Once they grow some, they do fine, but getting to that point is a challenge. I bought some raised beds this year, so we’ll see how that turns out. I’m 70, and know all too well, about the muscle stiffness and soreness, and the garden is one way to get some needed exercise, but with age, there certainly are limits! My back is not in the best condition as it is, from my past endeavors! Take care my friend!
Hi Jim,
We have sandy clay, which is pretty awful. I amend the soil every year using a rough mix of native soil, composted cow manure, composted mushrooms, and Fafard planting mix. I also use Espoma organic fertilizers, which I apply into the mix. Epsom has specific mixes for different plant types, i.e. roses, vegetables, flowers, etc. The plants seem to like it! I think the other key is digging a large enough hole for the plant. My general rule of thumb is twice the with and depth of the container. Hope that helps! Steve
Stella Natura biodynamic calendar
Is that something you use?
yup, it’s a yearly calendar to coincide planting accordingly with the phases of the moon !
I’m wondering why you have to pay for it when planting by the moon information is readily available on the web?