Geranium seeds bring a big surprise!

Each fall my garden is full of long seed pods, crunchy plants and weird spikes coming from previously beautiful flowers and vegetables. That's what happens when you let nature take over and your plants go to seed. I save the seeds and use them in next year's garden.

This summer, I had bought a flat of red geranium and they did so well. I planted the bright, happy flowers in pots on the deck and interspersed in my herb and veggie garden.

As I was clearing out the garden this fall, I noticed that they had actually gone to seed! The photo is what the seeds look like. Little twisty spirals with a circular white plum around the end. Amazing. I had never seen a germanium seed and plan to plant them in the spring.

Food Not Lawns

What a great book I am reading! Food not lawns - How to Turn Your Yard into a Garden and Your Neighborhood into a Community by H.C. Flores. I picked this book up at the Rapid City Library today and dove right in. Tons of great information. The author asks, "How can human beings thrive together, in peace and perpetuity, without destroying the ecology that we depend upon?" There are no easy answers to that question since it's up to each of us to 'design our own life' but, as the authors explains, it doesn't mean to don a loincloth and live on grub worms and roadkill, it's about finding your own niche and work toward a long and natural life. (This is very paraphrased but you get the idea).

How this applies to me is my own backyard garden. I was already planning to expand but I can take it a step further and share plants and seeds with others. So guess what everyone is getting for Christmas? A Black Hills Garden basket of seeds from this year's garden, dried herbs and herbal tea packets. I think I am on to something here!

Local Businesses Need our Support!

If we don't support our local businesses, they will not be there any longer. It's so important. Read about The 350 Project here and see what you can do to help!

http://www.the350project.net/home.html