March Already!

What a cold day in the garden! Now that it is March I thought it would be warm! Nonetheless it was a beautiful morning in the garden. Waking up at 8:30 on Friday morning seems like a drag at first, but when I get out in the garden I always realize how great it is to start my day out right in the Peace Patch. It's always a joy to get away from my chaotic college schedule to come out and care for the plants. Leaving all those stresses behind, I spent the morning mindlessly weeding away in the garden, enjoying the peace and tranquility of it all. What a special place it is, lifting everyone's spirits with it's pure, natural innocence.

It was very quiet today in the garden. No classes came out, so I spent a majority of the time weeding and watering by myself; accompanied by all the Monk Parakeets chirping away in the trees above me. Robin, our lovely Peace Patch coordinator came to visit me and see how I was doing. It's always a joy to see her friendly, smiling face. She spends so much time working on maintenance behind the scenes and putting everyone's schedules together. The days I get to see her on my shift are always lovely! We talked about all the work that need to be done in the fallowing week and observed the new growth we found.

The Garbanzo Bean's finally grew their pods! It's been a good 90 days sense they were first planted, and it was great to see the promising new beans forming on the leafy plants. It amazes me how much growth I find every time I come out to the Peace Patch. In less then a week's time, there is so much change that occurs! As an Environmental Studies Major I thought I knew it all! However I never realized how fast the plants would actually grow in our little organic garden.

The Florida native's began to bloom too! It was exciting to see all the new promise in the garden today. After feeding and caring for their every need, I feel accomplished watching the plants mature.

I waved to my kids, who were in gym class only a few yards away. I'm quite eager to continue teaching lesson plans in the fallowing weeks. It will be a very fulfilling experience to stand by their side while they observe all they edible plants grow before their eyes.

- Avery Martin