We’ve upped our container gardening this year, and bought a water tank to use as a raised bed. It goes with the “modern farmhouse” theme of our property, and is easier to reach and tend. My husband set it up, and I’ve planted aspire melons and basil seed (because that is what I grow best) and set up the watering system. I poked some onion seeds in, but I don’t have high hopes for those (because they aren’t basil). The green in the middle is a basil plant I picked up at the hardware store, since I had a late start putting in the seeds.

The strawberries are trying to put out fruit. I put up a gate around some of the patch, with hopes that I will get to the ripe berries before other critters.

I relocated the fancy pots to the front porch, and thought I would put in some pretty flowers, then a lavender plant caught my eye, and I remembered that my rosemary plant didn’t survive the freeze, so they turned into herb pots rather than flower pots. The big pot I left empty because it sprouts cat.

The three-year-old crossvine on our front fence is really starting to come into its own. It is filling in and expanding and this spring has an abundance of blooms. We have a one-year-old plant next to the chicken coop that is in full sun that I am hoping in a couple years will even surpass the glory that this one displays. It too is blooming now, but still has the look of a gangly youth.

The strawberry plants from my uncle’s garden survived the winter and are blooming! There are some clusters of mint coming up as well. Time will tell how the battle goes this year.

Happy Valentine’s Day from my Thanksgiving Cactus. Yes, it is still producing blooms. No, I have no idea what I’m doing right. Sometimes we need to be happy with what we have, and not yearn for what we don’t. Sometimes that is not easy. Sometimes it is. Deep thoughts for a Thanksgiving Cactus.