Meanwhile in Greece...

The weather here is cold and rainy.  Meanwhile in Greece, where daytime temperatures are currently ranging between fifty and sixty degrees, Mary has just sown her first tomatoes of the growing season. 

Mary lives in Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece.  She maintains her garden plot in a location 68 miles from her home, amidst pine forests near the Mediterranean Sea.  I connected with her via her internet shop where she sells seeds for home gardeners.   Here are some of the tomato varieties that Mary offers:

Brown Berry

Blondkopfchen

I plan to follow Mary's progress through the planting season.  I love knowing that there is someone on the other side of the globe living in tune with nature through gardening and I'm hoping to mix things up a bit by highlighting what's going on in her world in contrast to what's going on in mine. 

Half of Mary's one acre gardening plot is devoted to olive and fig trees and she takes pride in her exceptionally abundant stand of wild greek oregano.  She devotes a generous amount of her resources to growing corn.  She recently found an old greek variety of corn that can grow without much watering.  Watering requirements are an important consideration for her.  Since her plot is not connected to a city water supply and she has to collect rain water for irrigation.  She says, “Rain is important for me and for anyone who lives in Mediterranean. We love rain because we have sun the most days of the year.”

If only I could give Mary some of my rain in exchange for some of her sunshine!