from scratch...

A few weeks ago I planted some seeds in this nifty "seeder" (?) and have lately been seeing some sprouts!  It's very exciting, I check on them maybe every 30 minutes.  =)

my plantastic seed organiser

In the front you can see my cucumber sprouts, and in the back they are cauliflower sprouts.

zucchini sprouts

cucumber sprouts from a different angle

I also planted beetroot seeds in the vegetable garden and I noticed for the first time today some tiny little red sprouts.  Aren't they cute???

nature and nurture

Our beautiful vegetable garden...

(my camera takes horrible pictures, so these are courtesy of my soon to be sister-in-law =) 

The "tuiles" or roof tiles that we use to protect the plants when the weather is bad.

carrots

big blooming salads

a gorgeous salad

potatoes

some cherries...

love it

Some gardens of Marrakech

During our trip to Marrakech, we visited a few different gardens.  We visited the old Bahia Palace and it's gardens.  We visited the Majorelle Garden and the Palmeraie, a garden of palm trees, as well as the Agdal Gardens, the royal plantation.

Here is a window in the Bahia Palace.

One of the doors leading out of the Majorelle garden.  

The Majorelle Garden is a botanical garden that was designed by Jacques Majorelle in 1924.  The garden was owned by Yves Saint Laurent, until his death.  There is a memorial dedicated to him, and his ashes are scattered throughout the garden as well.

A banana tree.  Can you see the bananas?

The outside of one of the buildings.

A fountain surrounded by cacti and palm trees.

Huge, huge bamboos.

Some impressive cacti.

A camel in the Palmeraie.  Notice the "forest" of palm trees?

Here is the Sahraj el-Hana (Tank of Health) and an ancient Dar in the Agdal Garden.  

The plantation covers about 400 hectares, approximately 4 square kilometers.   The tank is now used to irrigate all the crops: orange trees, olive trees, fig trees etc.  The tank is filled with carp, that they use for food.  Some weigh 5 kg.  Back in the day the tank was used to train troops to swim.

A small building in the midst of orange trees and olive trees.

welcome s p r i n g =)

Spring is finally here!  Or, at least, almost here.  This weekend we spent much time in the garden with the family preparing for the warm weather.

The Hyacinths I planted 3 years ago...  still going strong. 

Some pretty flowers peeking through in the flower beds.

Pretty.

Lots of sprouts!

A minefield of bulb sprouts.

The soon to be vegetable garden...  With a soon to be fence all around.

A fancy tree Pan planted.  Don't ask me what it is.

More sprouts...

A cherry tree we planted near the vegetable garden.  One of two.  We also planted an American maple tree, an apricot tree, a plum tree...  and another cherry tree, and two rosebushes, among others...

My iris sprouts.

Some daisies...

More sprouts.  =)

Some fresh branches...