The Fern Farm

    Years and years ago, we came across a great deal on some ceramic-making supplies that included two large kilns.  One was in perfect working condition (and still is!) but the other had major problems.  To get the good stuff...we had to take the bad stuff.  So, the working kiln was put inside and the non-working one sat by the shed.  For a while it was covered but, eventually, the cover disintegrated and the kiln sat out in the weather.  Folks wonder why we still have the thing.  I wonder the same.  The best answer I can give is in the form of a question.  Have you ever moved a large kiln?  If so, no further answer is needed.  If not, just so you will know, a large kiln like the ones I have weigh in around 550 lbs.  Moving them is not easy...trust me.

  For a while, I fretted over the broken kiln being in the yard.  It was an eyesore, to say the least.  Then, as she always does, Mother Nature lent me a helping hand.  A couple of years ago, I noticed several small Japanese Holly Ferns peeping out of the cracks in the metal housing.  Wherever the inner bricks were exposed, tiny ferns took root.  Soon, the entire kiln was one big mound of ferns! I was elated!  Instead of an eyesore, Mother Nature had turned the old kiln into a Fern Farm!  I now have a never-ending supply of baby ferns!  To get ferns for the hanging baskets or gardens, I need to look no further than that old kiln.  The ferns are easy to snap off and transplant!  They are fine, healthy ferns with a nice root ball so they happily take to where they are planted.

  Japanese Holly Ferns are named because their leaves resemble holly tree leaves with their pointy edges.  The ferns are shade lovers which works out perfectly for the Bayou as we have many oak trees dotted about the place.  Also, since we are in the Deep South, the ferns are hardy here all winter.  Even if a frost turns the leaves brown, they come right back out.  

  I pulled several baby ferns from the kiln and potted them in a hanging basket with the idea of doing many more over the next week.  Son has plans to build a huge arbor over the french doors and it is my idea that the hanging baskets of ferns would look rather nice there.  Thankfully, my Fern Farm just keeps producing!  Maybe, that old kiln was a blessing in disguise.  Maybe, it is all in how you look at things.  Maybe, I should learn to trust Mother Nature a bit more.