Our Neck of the Woods

Look at a map of Florida and find the center of the state with your eye. Chances are, you've landed pretty close to Lake Wales.

We've been here four years. I had visited Florida before, and my impression was a lot of sand, concrete, and of course, the beaches. And it was flat. But Lake Wales, while it has a lot of sand, has some really fun hills. I wish it snowed so I could go sledding down one. That probably won't happen.

Lake Wales is just one town on the Ridge, a section of land, like a spine, that trails down the state. Back in prehistoric times, this was the only part of Florida that stuck out of the water. The sand and hills come from ancient dunes. Fossil hunting is a popular past time here.

We are also in an ecosystem called the Scrub Palm Desert. That means more sand. We have some creatures that you only find around here, which makes us special, unique and often endangered.

Ridge Plant Nursery is out in the boonies of town, with sand roads (there's that sand reference again)and we have great nature. I've seen Scrub Jays, Glass Lizards, Indigo Snakes and Gopher Tortoises roaming around when we go for walks.

So we are in a neat place. We've become sensitive to what we share the land with and what we do with it.

Top Photo: That's our garden bed. Jim refers to it as the propagation garden.
Middle: We have some Swallowtail Caterpillars munching on the Fennel and Parsley.
Bottom: Just one view of the shade area (thank you, live oak for providing that). You can see the scrub palm field in the distance.

Thanks for taking a peek. I'll share more about what we grow and do next time!