March 8

The Seed Testers are all abuzz as we wait for our spring seeds to arrive in the mail. OG’s Pam Ruch let us know last week that she was divvying them up to send out. Michelle Zettel in Challis, Idaho can hardly contain her enthusiasm, “HOORAY!” she wrote, “I am so looking forward to getting in the dirt!”

While we wait, several of us have been involved in garden construction projects. The new patio that replaces half of my old lawn is nearly done. It is made of broken concrete and matches all the other hardscape in our garden. Broken concrete is cost-free and nearly limitless. Our supply came from a neighbor who replaced her patio. She’d seen our garden walkways and retaining walls made of concrete so she knocked on the door one day, asking if we wanted hers.That was the impetus for the patio project we had been putting off for so long!

I’m not the only OG test gardener with construction plans. Leslie (“The Tomato Lady”) Doyle in Las Vegas (who, by the way, starts Meyer lemon trees from seed!) has been working on a new “social and workshop area” of decomposed granite, all surrounded by new planting beds.