seeds for sale

this past season, we gathered as many seeds from the garden as we could.   while we plan to use some to start plants, we also have plenty to sell.  before you groan in disappointment, keep in mind that we are an all volunteer organization and this is currently our only fundraiser for our garden.  if ever there was a garden in need of funds and support, this is it!  there are structures that need repairs and others that need replacing.  we need supplies and small equipment as well as a secure shed to store them in.  then there are the plants-can you believe that some despicable person came into the garden and dug up every one of our hostas?  so, give us your support, buy a few packages of seeds and help us keep the garden growing!

seeds currently available:
false blue indigo
blackberry lily
pink hollyhocks
assorted marigolds(cannot be separated)
chives
assorted basils(cannot be separated)
assorted coneflowers(pinks, purples and whites, cannot be separated)
cayenne peppers
tennessee sweet potato squash
jeff poppen's butternut squash

all packages are $1.00 each and if you would like them to be mailed to you, a separate shipping and handling fee will be added.  all applicable sales taxes will be added as well.  but if you attend our monthly meeting on february 9, 2012, you can avoid the shipping fees.

by following the links, you will find all the information you need to plant the seeds and grow the specific item.  since we are a small operation, all seeds are packed by hand and contain 1/8 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of seeds except the sweet potato squash; since we only had one to work with, each packet contains approximately 8 seeds.  please remember that we are not commercial seed producers and we are not able to guarantee the results.  hopefully, things will grow and you will be pleased and we will always be grateful for your support of our garden!

feel free to leave orders in the comment section or email me directly garden4groceries@bellsouth.net

thanks for your support and happy gardening!!!

we're still here!

if you don't come out to the garden on sunday mornings, that cake is the sort of thing you miss out on!  actually, we have been getting out there sporadically and on 11/6, i threw myself a birthday party in the garden and invited all of my volunteers to join me.  so many came out and i cannot thank everyone enough!  we got a lot done, the garden looks good and now that we have finally had a hard frost, we can work on putting the garden to bed for the winter.  please come out and join us, contact me by leaving a comment or emailing me at the address listed.

wednesday evening in the garden, update-8/24

as summer winds down and the days grow shorter, you would expect it to cool off.  for the month of august, it only seemed to get hotter and even waiting until late afternoon to head out to the garden offered little relief from the heat.  i had hoped for a larger group of volunteers but only margaret and shirley were able to join us in the garden.  shirley brought a new friend to the garden and he has decided to stick around and keep an eye on the herbs for me...

this year, shirley thought it would be fun to make tin men with the junior master gardeners.  it was a lot of work and then i asked her to make a giant one for the herb garden.  he turned out great and we cannot thank shirley enough for making him!

 our main task for the afternoon was to begin removing the passion flower from the herb garden.  i confused two seedlings-passion flower and roselle(thai hibiscus) and the results were nearly disastrous.  that passionflower quickly spread and we will be removing it for some time!  we did want one for the arbor and i planted several roots into a huge pot that has been sunk into the soil near the arbor-lets hope that keeps it contained!

 after the digging we set our sights on the small bed near the herb garden and it was quickly weeded.

sugar bear also joined us in the garden and she didn't like the heat much either.  however, she did dig up and kill a mole first thing so we let her lounge in the dirt.

a look at what is going on in the garden:

 ailanthus webworm moth on flowering chives

 cinnamon basil in full bloom

 egg plants

 pumpkins in the compost corral

 honeybees in the sunflowers

 skippers like chive blossoms too

 so many cayenne peppers

 beauty berry loaded with berries

 black and blue salvia in bloom-a hummingbird magnet!

 the creeping jenny in the roof top garden glows

the dish is filling in nicely

but on closer inspection, it is obvious that the deer jump into the dish and eat the sweet potato vines!

garden update, july 31

 sedum in the rain garden glows as it grows-a striking contrast to the other plants

 eggplants in the junior mg bed

 the enemy-harlequin bug

 basil in the herb garden has exploded!

 a fountain of lemon grass

 passion flowers-they will take over the world if we aren't careful!

 bronze fennel-host plant for swallowtail caterpillars

cayenne peppers

 gladiolus in the memorial garden

 the dish garden is filling in nicely

 chinese lantern

 box elder bug on a black eye susan in the butterfly garden

 carpenter bee

 helianthus in the perennial garden-a meeting spot for the bees-can you see all the different types on the flower?

things are looking a bit like fall in the old compost corral-the squash plant that is taking over is actually several plants and at least one of them is a pumpkin plant that is bearing fruit!

june 2011 workday in the garden

every june we gather the members to give the demo garden a makeover before the big fielday event.  fellow dcmg member pam supplied these photos.

mid-summer; hot, hot, hot in the garden, july 17 update

 so hot in the garden!!!  we need rain, anybody know a good rain dance?  for all of you who come out to visit the garden, please keep in mind that this is a demonstration garden and the plants in it are on display.  please do not pick the fruits and vegetables on the plants and remember, removing plants-even self sown seedlings as well as the fruits and veggies is the same as stealing!  the pathologists in the building use the various plants and beds for research and you could skew the results and void reasearch that has taken weeks if not months to establish.  that said, here is what is going on in the garden this week.

we have finally begun the task of moving the arbor to the herb garden.  first it was taken apart and the top section was removed.  the side sections were dug out and relocated to the main garden to await installation.

 ti took all the effortt and muscles of our gardeners and despite the heat, they got it moved!

 with the lack of rain, we have had to water.  here is virginia giving the plants some much needed moisture.

 the view from the main garden down to the perennials

 ants like butterfly weed too!

 black and blue salvia

 i love to watch the butterflies!  followed this one around and got some nice shots of him, enjoy!

july 10, mid-summer update

at this time of year, most gardens tend to die off.  intense heat and dry weather cause plants to shut down and die back.  we aren't seeing that yet; there has been steady rainfall and the plants are looking beautiful.  early morning arrivals make gardening a pleasure since it beats the heat!

taking it vertical;  asian long beans are climbing the strings while cucumbers are climbing tall stakes.

 a florida weave is holding up the tomatoes in this bed

 all of the rain has caused a serious plant explosion in the herb garden!

 basil anyone???

 the raised beds are doing well too.  here is the little garden that anne planted, the tomaotes are taking over!

 when you have rain, you get mushrooms!

look carefully, at about the 7 o'clock position is a red object, that is a stinkhorn growing out from the cluster of mushrooms known as little helmets or fairy bonnets (coprinus disseminatus).

 growing between the clumps of switchgrass that top the berm on the rain garden is thare these mounds of creamy white foam.  they are called crust or parchment fungi.

 witches butter on the work table, it is decomposing the wood pretty quickly.

 the passion fruit that ate the garden...i really need to get this thing in a pot with an arbor to climb on.

 this used to be a compost corral.  it is now a squash arbor.  unfortunately, it is a plant from hybrid seeds and no squash are developing-just plant and flowers.

 the good thing about flowers, you can stuff them, bread/batter them and fry them for a tasty treat!!!

 pretty painted lady getting a drink

 carpenter bee on a sunflower

 somewhere in here is the rain garden.  the plants in it have outdone themselves and have completely filled the basin.  no more erosion problems!!!

 coneflowers in full bloom

 phlox plants in bloom

 jack in the pulpit in bloom in the shade garden

and it just wouldn't be sunday morning in the garden without cake; little muffins to be exact.  mixed grain with carrots and apples.