Veggies on my mind

I can almost not work, all I think about seems to be gardening. I keep taking detours on the Internet, looking things up and chatting with local gardeners online to get tips...

I think I have no choice to get those Earth Boxes this weekend, otherwise I will go nuts! :-)

There is just one problem, I want to get the entire outside area ready for spring, and the first step in doing that is to mow all the leaves up. That might sound strange, but we have a live oak in the front that drops very skinny leaves, too small to be picked up by a regular leaf rake. So the easiest way to "rake the yard" is to go over it with the lawn mower and use the collection attachment. It works great! BUT the first time you do this every year (usually only needed one or two times to get rid of the leaves), it is HARD work and is very heavy to empty that collection attachment. I usually need Ken to do it, I am just too weak.

Problem is he is in the middle of tax season, and we are happy if we see him after 8 at night. There is just no way he will have time to do this over the weekend (he has to work 7 days a week this time of the year).

I think I am going to have to deal with it. I just need those leaves GONE! Plus, the grass will not have a chance to grown until they are gone, and it looks messy.

So the plan is tomorrow to mow in the morning, then take a shower and go over to the Earth Box research center to get the boxes, and probably also go to some gardening centers.

I went by Lowe's yesterday (Lowe's and Home Depot are HUGE stores with EVERYTHING for the home, including garden centers). They had some great seedlings there, but not ALL the varieties I need. I seem to have a hard time finding tarragon (dragon in Swedish). Plus I would love to have some scallions/green onions...

Last night Ken and I talked, and he and I agreed to plant a few trees. Mainly we want an avocado and a mango tree in the back, and I also want a lemon tree. So that is the plan. Both avocado (but especially mango) get very big, up to 25 feet tall (8 m). The avocado will have to be a Florida variety, not the Hass I usually buy at the store. The trees you buy are a few years old, so there will be no fruit for at least a couple of years. But you have to start somewhere! The lemon trees I looked at yesterday, however, had lots of fruit coming in, so that will be a harvest already this summer. Great!

This is how the Florida avocado looks like

So it might be a tough weekend... But I can't wait (except for that mowing-the-leaves-up part...)

Hope you all have a great weekend!