Update

Well, the last of the garden is in. I planted the safflower, and hopi red amaranth yesterday. Good thing, because we got a nice rain last night, and then again today for a short while this am. I'm working on fiber prep nightly. The hopi sunflowers are likely going to turn out to be a bust. Turns out they're a fave of the local wild rabbit population. I tried putting cages around them, but either the rabbits are HUGE, or I don't have any future in the caging flower industry, because they seem to get to them anyway. (I have floating row cover over broccoli and brussel sprouts, but it wont work for sunflowers for obvious reasons. The only ones not being eaten are the ones surrounded by string beans. Perhaps the cover has protected them. I doubt unless the few that remain a) survive and b) produce a HUGE amount of seeds I'll have enough to use.

On a happier note, I've discovered that the unknown seedlings in my plant tray were madder. I have about 15 plants that appeared from what I thought was a dead tray. I'd only been watering it because there were 2 or 3 yellow bleeding heart starts (all of whom died). So, I've potted them up to the next tray level, and we'll see where they go. If I can keep them alive through the winter, then I'll try planting them out next spring. No way will they be sturdy enough to survive otherwise.

About half the cotton survived the transition out doors, and of them, only a few are producing new growth yet. I need to work on patience.

The wild flower garden is growing MADLY! I may even get dye materiels out of it this season!

Live well and dye happy,

Leah (who will take pictures as soon as #1 son takes all the graduation photos off my storage card.)