Earth Day Activity: Making Seed-Starters from Recycled Newspaper

Last week, while I was in the community garden ripping grass from the raised bed, I enjoyed a moment of being present. A moment where I felt the grime on my neck, the sweat trickling down my back; a moment of pure bliss. At that moment I thought if I could lead workshops, or teach people how to grow their own food that would be perfect.

I’m not big on perfection; but teaching others how to grow their food would be lovely. I would like to teach those intimidated by gardening that they can grow their own food. This was my focus as I tossed roots onto the compost pile, cursing Johnson grass.

Enter, Miss Liz, Go-Green Day chair at Crabapple Middle School. Someone suggested she contact me.

Would I speak to middle schoolers on Earth Day? she asked.

Would I ? Sign me up !

Deciding what to speak about was a challenge. At first I wanted to show them how to recycle newspapers in the garden. Then I determined that most of the students probably didn’t have access to a garden. (Being that they were trapped in the confines of a subdivision with a rigid Homeowners Association). That’s when the idea to demonstrate how to make a newspaper seed-starter emerged.

Once I shared my idea with Liz, she suggested I have each student who visits my booth make their own seed starter. After the seeds sprout the students will plant them in their community garden. Imagine the Plant A Row for the Hungry concept. That’s what they’re doing.

Now we’re growing, and feeding the hungry nutritious vegetables!

For those interested in making these; or students who want to show their parents how to create a newspaper seed-starter, here are the instructions:

Supply list:

Newspapers

Seeds

Potting Soil (Note: try to feel the quality of the soil. If you feel small sticks and pebbles, most-likely you are purchasing woodchips, not potting soil).

Glass container cylindrical in shape. (Note: glass works best because it is sturdy and newspaper).

Instructions:

Fold one sheet of newspaper lengthwise.

Place glass on paper. Leave some newspaper hanging over the lower edge of the glass.

Place glass on newspaper. Allow one inch of paper to hang over the bottom end of the glass. You will fold this later and form the bottom of planter.

Once you have wrapped glass, fold ends toward the center to create bottom of seed-starter.

Wrap the glass with newspaper. When you reach the end, fold edges inward to form the bottom of the planter.

Stand glass up and press down firmly to secure the bottom.

Remove glass.

If desired, staple top of planter to keep pages intact.

Fill planter with dirt. Each planter will use approximately half a cup of dirt.

A shout out to the Roswell Garden Club ladies featured in the newspaper.

Following the instructions on back of seed packet, press seed into soil. Water lightly. Don’t worry if water leaks through planter. Once seedling starts growing it is ready to plant in the garden. Dig a hole in the garden, place planter in the earth and fill with dirt. Water well. The newspaper will deteriorate and allow the roots to grow deep in the soil.

This is an inexpensive way to start seeds, and recycle. I want to thank Miss Liz for allowing me the opportunity to fulfill a dream. If your school or church has a community garden and you’d like me to teach the fledgling gardeners in your area, please contact me through my website.

Renea Winchester is the award-winning author of  In the Garden with Billy: Lessons About Life, Love & Tomatoes. In 2012 she released Stress-Free Marketing: Practical Advice for the Newly Published Author. 2014 will see the release of In the Kitchen with Billy: Farming, Friends & Fried Bologna Sandwiches. She is currently working on her first novel. She would love to hear from you. Visit her at www.reneawinchester.com

Follow Billy on Faceboook HERE

 

Local Food: Sugar Snap Peas

My Sweet Peas

It started in early January, the hankering to grow sugar-snap peas (which where I come from we call sweet-peas). I placed a handful of Botanical Interests seeds in a cup of warm water and let them sit for a hour. Later, I folded the seeds into a wet paper towel and zipped them up in a plastic bag and placed them on the heating vent.

I plant peas because my grandmother loves them. Each year we usually get into a growing contest which she  wins. She lives in the mountains of Western North Carolina, which is perfect for pea-growing.

Loving my cold frame which fits in my deck planter.

My mother-in-law had recently given me a cold frame.  She knows spring fever comes early for me; knew I would put the garden tool to good use. I also knew that peas grow best when soaked, or in this case, partially sprouted.Here in Atlanta (zone 7a or b zip code depending), my desire for peas better start early. The weather is unpredictable and by April it is usually way too hot to plant peas and other cold-hardy plants.

Two days later, a tiny nub escaped the hard shells. It was time to take the seeds outside. Now I must say that I attempted sprouting the pea seeds in tea bags. A friend of mine had posted an image on her Facebook account. The results from my experiment follow: the tea bag dried out rapidly. In order to keep the bags wet enough to sprout the peas, the tea soured causing the seeds to rot. Conclusion: disaster. Paper towels and plastic bags worked best.

As an aside, I do have Brussels sprouts seedlings in the ground and will keep y’all posted on their progress, or my failures.

It wasn’t enough to shelter the seeds beneath the cold frame. Even in “hot-lanta,” this year, January and February temperatures were cold and oft unpredictable; it was also very dreary with little sunlight. Ever ready to trick my plants into thinking it was spring, I laid old Christmas tree lights on the ground and wrapped them around the interior of the cold frame.

Once I realized the cold frame would work, I quickly sprouted more seeds, hence the difference in growth-stages.

The older lights gave off just enough warmth to coax the seedlings from the earth, the light tricked them into believing the sun was shining. I kept the lights burning day and night. (Thanks to my husband -who despises peas- and didn’t complain when the lights glowed at night).  Eventually temperatures rose and the sun began to shine more. It was time to remove the cold frame and trellis the pea vines.

Today, April 16, 2013, those same vines are about to bloom. Soon, I’ll enjoy sugar snap peas for dinner. The peas need to hurry up, they are growing an area reserved for tomatoes.

Tiny blooms on my sweet, sugar snap peas.

What tricks do you use to grow vegetables? What has worked, what hasn’t?

 

 

 

 

Renea Winchester is the award-winning author of  In the Garden with Billy: Lessons About Life, Love & Tomatoes. In 2012 she released Stress-Free Marketing: Practical Advice for the Newly Published Author. 2014 will see the release of In the Kitchen with Billy: Farming, Friends & Fried Bologna Sandwiches. She is currently working on her first novel. She would love to hear from you. Visit her at www.reneawinchester.com

Follow Billy on Faceboook HERE

 

 

 

 

It’s a Gardening Record: Seeds Sprouted in THREE Days!

TOP NEWS STORY: Seeds Have Sprouted !

Today I intended to spend the day writing. Instead a took a peak at the seeds, thinking they might need a mist of water. Surprise, the seeds are up! Three days: a new record at my house for seed starting. For the skeptics I must share these two words: Holy Crap! That’s exactly what I said this morning when I checked my seeds.

Look at those Cherokee Purple tomatoes. Aren’t they precious?

Holy Crap, the Cherokee Purple’s are up!

See, heating the soil and adding Christmas Tree lights do work.

Holy Crap, the Brussels sprouts are up too!

First year growing Brussels Sprouts. I have some planted outside also.

Again, I must ask why in the world are you planting anything other than Botanical Interests Seeds?

Click the above link today, right now, and order something, anything.

Why are you fertilizing with anything other than Nelson’s Grow Best? I only soaked the seeds for about two minutes.

The proof is here.

If you’ve missed my other blogs you need to shred the newspapers.

Cook the dirt.

Plant the seeds Dear Ones…plant the seeds.

Next week I might try sprouting The Garry Farm’s Zinnias. Oh I can’t wait.

P.S. please subscribe to my blog. You’ll receive an email each time I post something new and exciting. I promise, my “news” will never feature the Kardashians.

My view through the plastic shoe-box this morning. BIG SMILES!

Renea Winchester is the award-winning author of In the Garden with Billy: Lessons About Life, Love & Tomatoes. In 2012 she released Stress-Free Marketing: Practical Advice for the Newly Published Author. 2014 will see the release of In the Kitchen with Billy: Farming, Friends & Fried Bologna Sandwiches. She is currently working on her first novel. She would love to hear from you. Visit her at www.reneawinchester.com

 

Cooking The Dirt: Sprouting Seeds Speedy Quick

Hello again from zone 7B (otherwise known as Atlanta). It’s a dreary day today. The thermostat displays 50 degrees.

It lies.

The wind is howling and without the sun, it feels like thirty. This means today is the perfect day to start seeds indoors. Regular visitors and followers of my blog know that I like to try new tricks that expedite the germination process. Sowing seeds indoors is a fast, easy way to get a jump on spring planting. Today’s tip falls in the “must-try” category.

TIP: Soaking seeds in Nelson’s Grow Best Plant food is the best way to give seeds a head start.

Soaking seeds in Nelson’s Grow Best for five minutes is an excellent way to start your indoor seeds.

Georgia residents can buy Nelson’s Grow Best from Home Depot using this link. Non-Georgia residents, purchase it here. This concentrated fertilizer is the best I’ve ever tried. One only needs to soak the seeds a few minutes to give them an added boost.

TIP Two: The fastest way to germinate seedlings is to heat the soil and then maintain a continual temperature. Seeds are smart. They won’t germinate in cold soil which is why you can trick them by warming up the dirt. Using a disposable pie plate (or pan like you cook the Thanksgiving turkey in) heat potting soil in the oven. Bake the soil for 5 minutes.

Yes Virginia, bake the soil . . . just not in your mom’s favorite casserole dish.

Pour dirt into a plastic box that you have lined with shredded newspaper.

TIP Three:

Shred newspaper (black and white only…no color). Then add enough water to moisten.

Shredded newspaper (that is moistened) provides necessary moisture and encourages a strong root system. After adding warm soil on top of the newspaper, sprinkle seeds on top of the soil then, using your finger, press the seed firmly into the dirt. (no deeper than ½ inch).

Super Cheater TIP Four: Now this is a big one. Did you know the best way to maintain soil temperature (and trick your seeds into thinking it’s spring) is to place Christmas Tree lights on top of the soil? Don’t y’all go stealing this and blogging about it like you thought this up. This little Redneck idea is all mine.

After planting the seeds and making certain the soil is warm and toasty, I located a string of lights that only partially worked. I placed it on top of the dirt, covered the container with the lid and coiled the remaining lights in another container. 

The lights generate a small amount of heat. When combined with the moisture from the newspaper I turn a recycled ice cream bucket into a mini-greenhouse. Since I didn’t have a lid for this bucket, I fabricated a lid using plastic wrap and secured it with a rubber band. Since the containers share one strand of lights I placed the bucket on top of the box. Once seedlings emerge I will remove the lids.

All together now let’s sing. “I keep my Christmas Lights on….”

 

 

Stay tuned to this blog, or better yet, subscribe. I’ll keep you posted on the seedlings. Until then, visit the Botanical Interests online Seed Catalog and place your order. And remember to visit the website for your fertilizer.

Renea Winchester is the award-winning author of In the Garden with Billy: Lessons About Life, Love * Tomatoes. In 2012 she released Stress-Free Marketing: Practical Advice for the Newly Published Author. 2014 will see the release of In the Kitchen with Billy: Farming, Friends & Fried Bologna Sandwiches. She is currently working on her first novel. She would love to hear from you. Visit her at www.reneawinchester.com

 

 

Those Delicious Dilly Beans

Laugh if you will at jars of Dilly Beans. Whisper behind your hand into the ear of another, “that Renea is country come to town.” Go ahead, whispers don’t bother me. As we say back home, “you’re just leaving more for us.”

People have laughed at my Dilly Beans. Those million-dollar home kind of folk, the kind that turn up their nose and have no idea what they are missing. True foodies, those that embrace heritage, appreciate the sacred relationship formed when Dilly Bean lovers open a can.

Each spring I travel to Ladd’s farm supply in Cartersville, Georgia and load tiny paper envelopes with beautiful seeds such as rattlesnake, and October beans. I adore beans. I eat them raw, bake them southern style (with a hunk of seasoning meat), and pack them into jars of garlicky brine. It is this process that creates a delectable delicacy called Dilly Beans.

First, in order to create Dilly Beans you must grow the bean. For the love of humanity, and my personal sanity, please do not attempt to make Dilly Beans using rubbery store-bought beans.

Mercy no !

In Bryson City, North Carolina where I’m from, (and where those million-dollar home folk love to visit, people plant fields of white half runner beans. In the alternative a  “crease back” (also called Greasy Beans) will do. If you want a good Dilly Bean, don’t waste precious space planting a Bush Bean.

While Bush Beans are delicious and have their place at the table, one

must grow a bean that, when mature, has a white bean inside. Full beans resemble fingers. They are crunchy and bursting with flavor. Garlic and dill are two other key ingredients. Both easily grown in most parts of the country, or purchased in stores, if it is an actual emergency.

After picking and rinsing beans, add garlic and dill to the jar. If necessary use a butter knife to press beans together.

Now it’s time to make the brine, but first a story about how I discovered Dilly Beans (excerpt from my book In the Kitchen with Billy: Farming, Friends & Fried Bologna Sandwiches 2014 release).

I first tried dilly beans at the Sawmill Hill Freewill Baptist Church in my hometown of Bryson City, North Carolina. As ladies unwrapped fried chicken, potato salad, and a bounty of other made-from-scratch dishes, Annie Mae Cooper popped open three wide-mouth jars.

“What are those?” I asked as she placed one jar on each table.

“Dilly beans,” she replied.

I am certain my face revealed confusion. Perhaps I even turned up my nose just a bit which is why she pierced two beans with a silver fork, cupped her hand to collect the dripping brine and approached.

“Just try ’em.”

Crisp and filled with garlic flavor, dilly beans are delicious. They are so scrumptious they have replaced pickles at my house. Annie Mae, thank you for sharing this recipe. It is with great pride that I pass it along to others. If you like dill pickles, you will love this recipe.

Supplies: 4 to 6 pint jars, rings and can lids.

Ingredients:

2 pounds unbroken green beans (washed with stems and strings removed)

4 heads fresh dill

1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

4 cloves garlic

2 ½ cups water

2 ½ cups white vinegar

¼ cup pickling salt or kosher salt

Combine water, vinegar and salt in a saucepan. Heat until mixture begins to boil, and salt has dissolved. Set aside to cool.

Place a small sprig of dill and one slice of garlic in the bottom of a glass canning jar. Sprinkle pepper flakes into jars then tightly pack beans lengthwise inside.

Pour liquid into jar. Leave ¼ inch of space at the top. Wipe the jar opening with a clean cloth to remove any trace amounts of moisture. Place a lid on the top, secure lid and tighten ring just enough to seal the jar.

Sealing Instructions: 

Dilly beans are processed in a water bath. No pressure cooker is required. One only needs a large pot with enough headroom to cover the jars with one-half (1/2) inch of water.

To prevent glass from breaking, pour warm water into the pot. Add jars. Make certain water covers the lids. Cover pot with lid and heat water until boiling. Boil in water bath for ten minutes.

Use metal tongs to remove and then place jars on a towel to cool. When the lids make that unmistakable popping sound, they have sealed.

Place any jars that do not seal in the refrigerator. Dilly beans are ready to enjoy three weeks after processing. This time allows the spices to flavor the beans.

Renea Winchester is the award-winning author of In the Garden with Billy: Lessons about Life, Love & Tomatoes. Her next release, In the Kitchen with Billy: Farming, Friends & Fried Bologna Sandwiches features delicious recipes like this.

 

Growing Potatoes in the Middle of Winter

Before I begin, readers PLEASE leave a comment and share my blog. This Wednesday I will award a $ 10.00 gift card from my favorite seed supplier, Botanical Interests. One lucky person who comments this week, or subscribes to the blog will be chosen. It is my way of saying thank you for reading my blog and my books.

I fancy myself a lucky gal, lucky to have friends such as Billy Albertson and Mr. Thomas. Both gentleman are expert gardeners and sometimes, when I’m paying attention, I pick up a thing or two.

I haven’t written much about Mr. Thomas, primarily because he made me swear I wouldn’t. So to his friends and family who might be reading this blog, please don’t tell. Mr. Thomas has a top-secret proven method of growing potatoes year round. For me not to share would be, as we say in the south, a sin.

We have all reached in the potato box and uncovered something that looks like this.

Coral-reef like appendages protrude from potatoes. Gardeners refer to this growth as “eyes.” Left unplanted, the potato will shrivel and die. But wait, you can turn these unsightly potatoes into tasty taters in a few simple steps.

After cutting away the fleshy part of the potato, as seen in this picture  place several cups of dirt in either a hanging basket, or a Topsy Turvy tomato planter.

Use enough dirt to fill half the container. Then scoop a small hole and press the potato into the dirt as shown.

According to Mr. Thomas, moisture is the key to growing potatoes during the winter. While I am afraid of applying too much water, Mr. Thomas reminded me that potatoes require a lot of moisture. His advice: place the container in the sink and water until liquid comes from the drainage holes in the container. After watering well and allowing the container to drain, place it in a sunny location, or hang the container beneath a light.

As you can see. His advice works. Now that the plant has sprouted I will apply a small amount of dirt to the original potato. You should do that as well. I left it uncovered so you could see the stages of growth and development.

When I asked about pollination, Mr. Thomas told me that when tiny blooms appears, he gives the plant a shake. He believes this assists the pollination process. If you’re like me and are continually searching for ways to organically feed your family, try planting a couple potatoes. The only think you have to loose is unsightly tubers that you’re going to already going to toss in the trash.

Renea Winchester is an award-winning author of the book In the Garden with Billy: Lessons About Life, Love & Tomatoes, and the soon to be released sequel: In the Kitchen with Billy: Farming, Friends & Fried Bologna Sandwiches. Copies of In the Garden are available through her website and electronically.

 

My October Beans

Friends, Farmers, and others who shudder at the encroaching winter, I must share photos of my babies.

Those who chuckled  when I planted pintos while everyone else prepared their garden for winter; those who laughed when I posted pictures of my baby beans, take a gander. My wee ones made it. Next week one of my favorite holidays, Halloween, is upon us. During that week I shall pluck the remaining beans from the vine.

Picking beans in October. Tell me; is there any place more glorious than the South?

Carrying reclaimed water, I have coddled and encouraged these babies. Not because I possess the power to actually make anything grow, but because I so enjoy watching miracles such as this happen.

Rough tendrils wrapped around sticks and traveled into the prized Japanese maple. I did nothing to correct the vines. A child must grow where it must in order to seek the sun.

Pouring love and pride, I sprinkled used coffee grounds and tea leaves into the soil. Egg shells and a dash of milk (that was past its prime) added calcium. Even beans need a bit of calcium in order to grow up big and strong.

Temperatures dipped during the night. Daylight lessened. Darkness arrived earlier each afternoon. Leaves fell. Still the beans bloomed.

Positioning a mirror between the deck slats that reflected the sun’s rays, I focused the light on the plants and whispered, “I think you can.”

They did not disappoint.

Of course the harvest isn’t as plentiful as during the summer. That wasn’t my intent. My purpose was to grow something up until the very moment the icy breath appears. Soon a frost will blanket my deck planter. Only then will I remove the vines, dig out the glass door in the basement and plant the winter greens. For now, I give the smaller beans every possible moment to develop and mature. Friends, fledgling gardeners, and those who dread winter, next year you can do the same. “I think you can.” 

Renea Winchester is an award-winning author. Visit her website at www.reneawinchester to learn more.

 

Keep Calm and Plant Some Lettuce

The longing for a healthy salad during a stroll through the produce aisle was all it took to create a full-blown panic bubbling deep inside my soul. Have you noticed grocery prices lately? When did the price of lettuce jump to $ 3.29?

Doesn’t anyone realize how long an employees must work just to purchase a head of lettuce?

Panic accurately describes my feelings. I am also depressed. Apples are $ 1.99 a pound, same for nectarines and plums. It seems the only place in Atlanta offering affordable vegetables is the DeKalb Farmer’s Market. Alas, how many people have the time, or can afford the gas to drive that far? It is becoming impossible to feed our children-and ourselves-healthy food.

And then there was my daughter’s math assignment, complete with recipe. Total cost for ingredients: $ 20.00. Don’t get me started on that little surprise grocery store trip.

It is time-today-to plant some lettuce. Time to plant spinach, kale, collards and anything else green you can think of. All these “winter greens” will thrive in southern fall gardens. Most of these plants will last through the winter until temperatures rise in the summer.

For those trapped in a subdivision, empty a plastic storage container, plunk in a bag of dirt, and shake in a packet of Botanical Interests seeds. I have provided a link for many tried-and-true varieties here.

Do you like snow peas? Plant ‘em my friend, plant them today. While you’re at it, plant garlic too. It is a tasty winter crop.

We’ve got to do something. Soon and very soon, growing our own food will become a necessity. I am trying to remain calm, but the reality is this: consumers have little control over pricing.

Enter my red-neck lettuce bed. I took this photo from the side to show the simplicity of this project. The container is a plastic drawer. When the wheel of the cabinet broke, I converted it into a tiny lettuce garden.

It is easy to convert clear plastic containers into lettuce beds.

How? I purchased one bag of potting soil (with fertilizer in the bag). Drove the bag home. Opened the bag. Poured two inches of dirt into the container. Because the container will remain on the porch, and away from winter rains, drainage holes are not necessary. I sprinkled a package of Botanical Interests Buttercrunch Lettuce seeds. Added a thin layer of dirt,  and then said a prayer of thanksgiving as I lightly patted everything into place.

Lettuce does not transplant well. Neither will any of the previously mentioned “greens.” Determine where you want the plants to live, even if it is alongside the Gardenia outside your front door. Grow spinach in a fancy container, lettuce in the terra-cotta alongside the garage, in a plastic container, greens do not care. They are not persnickety.

Be not proud, my friend, and try not to panic. Keep calm and plant some lettuce, kale, and perhaps a packet of spinach.

Renea Winchester is an award-winning author. Order copies of her books through her website www.reneawinchester.com. She is currently writing, In the Kitchen with Billy: Friends, Fords, and Friend Bologna Sandwiches.

 

A Farmer: The Biggest Gambler Around

Don’t forget: Follow my blog by email (or RSS Feed) located at the top right). The 100th subscriber wins a $10.00 gift card to Botanical Interests.  200th subscriber wins a $ 20.00 gift card.

It was just a blink ago, a short couple of weeks that Atlanta experienced several days of soil soaking rain; afterward, we basked beneath a cool breeze and tolerable temperatures. However this morning as June bugs fly across the lawn I sense a change deep in my bones.

A drought is coming.

I can feel it in the stillness of the air, hear it in the silence of the birdsong.

Heat. Oppressive heat has rolled into Atlanta and brought with it not a hint of rain.

Rain is the lifeblood for farmers such as Billy Albertson. With more and more “city folk” depending on his fresh locally grown produce, the garden this year was full of promise.

Today, with new beans developing and tomatoes just about to turn red, the growing season is in jeopardy.

“If we don’t get some rain by next week, all will be lost,” Billy told me this morning when he rang the phone at 7:15 am.

Farmers don’t take the summer off, and they certainly don’t allow the helpers to sleep in.

“I know, which is why I put out the Pray-For-Rain sign,” I replied, equally concerned.

Most people would ask, “why doesn’t he just water the garden?” Those are the people who have never planted 250 tomato plants, people that do not understand that nothing, absolutely nothing compares to Heaven-sent rain drops.

Bless their hearts.

“I guess we could trickle some of that reclaimed water down the corn stalks,” Billy says more to himself than me. “That might help.”

He and I both know that it won’t. Once the Georgia clay starts cracking, only God can soothe the soil.

Cracks in the soil form as the earth begs for rain.

At my home, I snake a hose from the heat pump to my garden.

Billy doesn’t have that luxury; for you see, he doesn’t have air conditioning. Even though he is in the middle of the city, his water source is a well. If he used a hose to water vegetables, he wouldn’t have anything to drink. The water he uses on the garden comes from reclaimed rainwater, which is why the Pray for Rain request is a plea, a hand-on-knees cry to the One who makes the rain.

Please, please send us some rain.

Won’t you join me in asking for a few drops from heaven?

Renea Winchester is an award-winning author of In the Garden with Billy: Lessons About Life, Love & Tomatoes. Learn more at www.reneawinchester.com

 

Enjoying the Rain

It’s a rainy day here in Atlanta. A day like most others, where I wake and immediately scan the mental “to-do” list. Today, was bean-picking day at Farmer Billy’s. But alas, since I do not watch television (too much politics), I missed the local forecast and altered my plans with the darkening clouds.

For those visiting my blog for the first time, I wrote a book titled: In the Garden with Billy: Lessons About Life, Love & Tomatoes. The book is about the last farmer in Roswell, Georgia. Not to brag, but it’s a pretty good book that was nominated for several awards and recently earned me the Author of the Year award from the Atlanta Pen Women Association. Your favorite bookstore can order it, or, Billy and I will personalize a copy when ordered through my website.

Today, there would be no farm visit. With the family gone and the house empty, I turn on the music and stand still waiting to steep the perfect cup of tea. Sometimes, all of the wrongs seem right when the tea is perfect. Personal time…something rare these days.

Realizing the many people curse the rain for interfering in their daily activities, as the drops began falling I grabbed my camera, curled my hands around the mug, and for a moment was very thankful. My tomatoes still have a long way to go before they look like this, but these things take time.

Click here to view a short video of the gentle rain falling. So far it’s a great year for gardening. As you can see my planter is bursting with tomatoes.

Chickens aren’t happy when rain falls; “mad as a wet hen” comes to mind. As I fed my chickens (on the front porch) I captured my view of heaven raining down this drippy yet glorious Atlanta morning.

Enjoy their video view from my front porch by clicking here.The ocassional chirps are from my girls. I hope you enjoy your day.

Remember: I am giving away a $10.00 gift certificate for Botanical Interests to my 100th follower of this blog. Click “RSS feed” at top. $ 20.00 for the 200th follower. Feel free to share my blog with others. Thank you for stopping by.

Renea Winchester is an award winning author visit her at www.reneawinchester.com