Soapbox v1.1 - In the Weeds

Alien landscape?

To start this post off, we're going to play a game. The game is this: can you identify what's in the picture to the right? Okay, this might be a bit too easy, but play along anyway. I'll even give you some hints. 

• It's a plant. A plant that I can say with about 99% certainty you have seen before, and that you know its name. 

Hmm... if it wasn't obvious before that hint, it should be pretty obvious now. I'm going to forge ahead regardless.

• The plant was once known for its beauty. It is the subject of many poems and works of art, and entire horticultural societies formed around it to enjoy its beauty and develop new varieties. 

Wait, did it just get a little less obvious? How about these:

• It is one of the most nutritious plants you can grow in your garden. More vitamin A than spinach, more vitamin C than tomatoes, and a great source of iron, calcium and potassium. The entire plant is edible, and it has been known for thousands of years as a healing plant. It was likely brought to North America on the Mayflower specifically for those medicinal benefits.
• The dried, ground root is sold as a coffee substitute at higher prices per pound than prime rib, lobster and swordfish. 
• Speaking of that root, it can reach a depth of 15 feet (4.6 meters) and in pulling nutrients up from that depths aids nearby plants by making the nutrients available. The roots loosen and aerate the soil.

Still confident in your guess? I mean, this wonder plant must be grown everywhere, right? Well, as a matter of fact, it is, though not in the way you might think.

Garden Report v3.1 - Coming Back...

Chive flowers. Does this remind you of a Mario level?

If you look at the time stamps on my posts, you'll notice I haven't been here in a while. But now into my third year of gardening, I have definitely learned for myself the wisdom Ron shared as a comment on my last post. There are no failures in my kind of gardening, only learning experiences. If something doesn't quite grow up the way I want it to, I can always come back and try again next year. Or maybe I can try something completely different.

This bit of gardening wisdom, worked hard for and earned, can hopefully be extended to my blog project as well. Sure, I might post here sporadically, and it's been almost an entire year since my last post, but here I am again, giving it another try. This year, no silly promises of how often I will post. In the end, it's definitely more important for me to be in the garden (weeding, most likely) than it is for me to be sitting here posting. More on my lack of failure after the jump. :)