Solar Fields Update Spring 2024

Spring is such a lovely time to be in the forest gardens, or any garden at all really. It’s a time when flowers bloom, plants begin to push out their first fruits, and weeds grow with abundance! It’s also very short lived here in Southern Georgia. It feels like winter ends and, after a few short weeks of spring-like weather, summer is here. In relation to gardening, the summers here are different then the more northern summers. In many of the northern states, spring is when the garden season is just getting started. Whereas in Southern Georgia, preparations for the season began in January. Most plants don’t like to germinate in the extreme heat, and so summer is a waiting game to be able to restart many of the plants. This leaves the summer gardener with the task of maintenance and harvesting. Or re-seeding of heat loving plants, such as beans, and summer spinach.

What has been lovingly called “Salad Bowl Meditation”, is a time in the early morning, when there is still some dew on the plants, when a sort of intake can be done of the gardens. The garden space is combed through, for not only what nourishing leaves can become a part of our evening meal, but also what areas need attention. Do the tomatoes need pruning? Did a critter uproot something in the night? Is the mulch fading in an area? What produce is ripe for the picking? And of course, what weeds need tending to. It’s a lovely time to check in with both the garden and yourself, about what the rest of the day might entail. Much of the time spent in nature will offer a reflection of ourselves. The Forest garden, being a volunteer garden, is especially enlightening. So I would invite anybody out there to take advantage of the early mornings, when the coolness of night still lingers and the birds are just beginning to chirp, whether in your garden or ours.

May The Forest Be With You