make it happen!
Look at the tomatoes that Mom and Dad have raised! They are amazing! It’s the first of May and they are ready for the garden–but it’s still just a wee bit chilly. This evening after dark we worked on the garden sheds. Sheds? Yes, there will be two. Dwight’s idea is to borrow from the old hog sheds we had on the farm. It’s too hard to describe, so we will just have to wait for a picture.
2015 tomato crop–most of ’em
gorgeous!
photo credit: Dwight
shed floor #2
After dinner I left for Piper Street with two pans of broccoli or cabbage–don’t know which. After planting them, I watered and then covered with the row cover–in an effort to keep pests of all shapes and sizes from feasting on my seedlings!!
Oh, my! This bed is full of onions–and I still have some left to plant. When I went to Piper this evening, I had every intention of planting some cabbage and broccoli because the seedlings are starting to lay over. I think they need to be planted where their roots have a little more room to grow–although I did read that these plants have shallow root systems. Instead, though, I weeded the entire onion bed, planted some more onions (row down the middle), watered them, and raked up some of the grass in the back forty. I was going to put the grass on the onion bed as mulch, but decided to let it dry another day or so–then I will do it. At work today, Joel mentioned that he had trouble with mold when he used grass. Hmmmm. Maybe I should use some straw? I will have to investigate that.
red onions
finished onion bed
overview
Lisa summed up this evening’s activities by saying that she was reminded of Alice in Wonderland’s trip “down the rabbit hole.” Four post holes were dug by as many people. The 4×4 posts are 12 feet long. The holes are three feet deep. In addition to setting the posts, the lawn was mowed and trimmed, and onions were planted and watered. Here are a few shots of the action:
down the rabbit hole
Mom supervises
Dad brings a little class to the worksite
Dwight provides quality control for the worksite
getting close to 36″ deep
Lisa takes a break cuz–cuz she’s been workin’ hard!
view looking north
my favorite view
The forecast calls for rain all weekend, but that’s okay. We (the broccoli and cabbage) are still growing here!!
Tonight Dwight joined us for dinner, and then he and I went to Piper to do some rototilling. We started about 6:15. After we tilled and raked up the dirt for all of the existing beds, we decided to dig another bed. Why not? It was only 7:10pm. Sunset was not until 7:59 or so. So Dwight staked it off while I whacked some weeds–my new favorite obsession. Then we dug without stopping. As you can see, the last pic was taken after the sun went down.
first pass
my earth moving efforts
rototilling by the light of the moon
Saturday evening Mom shared some fresh asparagus when I stopped by for a visit. So, Sunday morning’s omelet was a beauty: lightly steamed asparagus, chives from the kitchen garden, and grated Fontina cheese. My guess is that this one just wouldn’t be acceptable to a French chef. I will have to check with Francoise.
That sucker didn’t even need any salt or pepper. And now, for your viewing pleasure:
William and I have been watching Downton Abbey. In the last episode of the first season, imagine my surprise when Lord and Lady Grantham attempted a garden party. They had silver tea service and evidently sent a memo instructing everyone to wear natural linen. Hurrumph. They obviously have no idea.
Let’s not forget that we had Ricky Nelson’s “I Went to a Garden Party” playing on a phone in a plastic cup. Let’s do a side-by-side comparison: Piper Steet Garden Party vs . . . .
My favorite garden party movie scene would have to be from Chocolat.
Some people are weekend warriors; I am a weekend farmer–at least this weekend. Saturday morning I planted 225 pepper seeds and then finished transplanting the broccoli/cabbage plants (They have been mixed up, so I will be surprised later when we find out what they actually are.) I wasn’t able to finish up everything because I ran out of potting soil. That’s okay, though, because I’ve also run out of windows for all my crops!
local newspaper–the gift that keeps on giving
Sunday morning I went to Piper St with the intention of spending an hour. I arrived at 9 A.M. and didn’t end up leaving until 1:15 P.M. What was accomplished? I double-dug the north bed and the far west bed; dug half of another bed and then transplanted five clumps of chives that were growing throughout the yard. I also dropped off the firepit I bought from Laura and trimmed around the entire tree area. About 11:3o Kim dropped by on her bicycle to help with onion transplanting. We planted two rows. There are easier ways of getting food. We still have more to plant, but that was enough for one day. Note to self: buy onion sets next year. Transplanting DINKY little onion seedlings that have been grown from seed is tedious work. Did I mention that it was tedious? It is tedious. Yep.
I did not take a pic of the garden today, but will try to get it tomorrow afternoon. I’m sure it will look simply spectacular after the four hours of gentle rain we had today. Just a note: temps are predicted to be unseasonably cool for this entire week–nightly lows in the mid-30’s!
I’ve been sitting around doing nothing related to the garden for about two weeks. Don’t know why. Anyway, tonight I transplanted 97 plants that were ready. I’m thinking that they are a mix of broccoli and cabbage, but I cannot be sure because I don’t recall my plant labeling system. It’s been too long!
I also went to Farm King for deer fencing and fishing line and K-Mart for potting soil. Hopefully, we can get some sort of protection against the deer going this weekend.
