Pastures and House Lawn,  Pastures, Gardens and House Lawn

A Bountiful Mother’s Day from the Gardens

May 10, 2020 /
  • 18 Jour radishes, Ichiban eggplant
  • Wild blueberries on top of planted blueberries
  • Tatsoi, nasturtiums, pepper and other greens
  • Celery crown re-start
  • West Pasture, center
  • West Pasture, right side
  • Planted blueberries
  • Lopper, the new dooryard garden resident
Happy Mother’s Day! Here’s some pictures of the new gardens and what they’re producing, plus Mom in her Mother’s Day gear. The straw raised bed trick for retaining moisture that we picked up from watching Homestead Rescue is paying off, as is using the shade of sand live oak canopies (Quercus Geminata). In addition to the blueberries we planted this winter, the wild sandhill blueberry patch that came with the property is yielding copiously and simultaneously. If you have a remnant celery clump base leftover from the chopping board, don’t throw it out if you have a garden; the old trick of sticking it into a raised bed works. Cactus Island has a new salad bar manager and it’s wisely sticking to mostly Mexican petunias while using the house lattice to shelter from hungry hawks.

James V. Freeman is an established visual artist (oil painting) with a deep interest in natural history, plants and farming. He has had numerous solo shows, a solo museum show, an upcoming museum show and his work has been featured in many publications to date. He currently has a studio in Williston, Fl at the family farm and homestead, "Cactus Island", and as a farmer, specializes in growing columnar cacti of the Caribbean and Gulf countries as well as the aquatic Madegascar Lace Plant. James and his mom Sharon manage and develop the permaculture homestead.

2 Comments

  • Linda Lincoln

    May 27, 2020 at 8:25 pm

    The bounty looks delish! And Sharon is killing it in that fancy gardening outfit 🌺

    • Sharon Passero

      May 28, 2020 at 1:36 pm

      Hi Lin,
      Thank for making my day with your sweet comment! Just dug 6 pounds of potatoes before the rain came,
      Love, Sharon