Lee Missouri

I grow golden beets and ferment them with ginger and garlic. The sweetness comes out and the juice turns a lovely warm yellow color. Normally beets just taste like dirt to me, too.

Last year the cardinals discovered my tomatoes. We've watched them fly down, eat a good wedge out of the fruit and flit away. This year, the tomatoes have struggled with the weather so we are less willing to share. Is anyone else using bird netting on their tomatoes?

I made a new keyhole garden last year, filled it with sticks, leaves, soil and varied compostable stuff and finally planted it with cucumbers and squash. It's taken over the backyard. The dogs are a bit worried.

The entire side yard between me and my neighbor is wild strawberries. It's been 10 years but they entirely pushed out the grass and they look lovely. Still, I had not considered transplanting into my front yard. I definitely will now. Thanks for this thread!

Not knowing anything about compost tea, I just soaked my empty compost bags in a repurposed  livestock water bowl, one of the black rubber kinds. Added water and left it. Pulled out the bags one day when I thought about it and left it again. This week I was doing something nearby and heard a "ploip" sound. And yes, there is a toad hiding in the compost tea presumably eating mosquitoes. I suppose the toad is technically aerating the tea. But I suppose my point is that sometimes a combination of laziness and forgetfulness can lead to something useful. At least for the toad.

Hi Eric. My husband is from up around Milwaukee and all these references to "bubblers" has me a bit confused. Is this like something that aerates the tea, or mixes it?

Valya, you should also offer notecards with your dog drawings on them. Your scetches are adorable!

10 out of 10 acorns for Seed Savers. I really like the seed history. I've planted Thelma Sanders squash and Dester tomatoes, both developed in MO, where I'm from. The Desters were particularly great. My husband is from Beaver Dam WI, so we grow Beaver Dam peppers. I grow Trail of Tears black beans descended from SS seed planted 7 years ago. We get a great sense of rootedness (pun intended) and continuity using these seeds. I haven't had problems with germination, but I'm not the most accomplished gardener - maybe the seeds aren't always germinating that well and I'm a better gardener than I thought! 😃

Love this topic! The fava bean photos look like the stalks are sturdy rather than viney. Is this right? I grow black beans and some sort of white bean (I forgot the seed name and just keep saving the seeds and replanting).