tempus fugit darnit

Tansy and Fern are eight weeks old.

Where does the time go?

Both are already exploring career paths.

Tansy seems inclined to become a bonsai specialist:

"Bonsai...that's the thing where you take a normal tree 

and make it be tiny, right?"

While Fern is apparently interested in becoming a physicist:

"Look! I can already diffract light with my ear!!"

Meanwhile, I'm doing my very best to keep plugging away.
Repairing fence. Adding gates. Rebuilding. Replacing.
Very glad to have a hired helper for a couple of hours weekly.

My old friend HayMan stopped by for a chat last week.
I mentioned that I just can't seem to "get caught up"
and he said, "Everybody is still trying to catch up after last Winter. Doesn't matter what kind of place you have or how big or small it is, everybody got behind and is still trying to catch up."

So maybe that's the way the Summer is going to go?
Makes me feel a little more tired just thinking about it!

But now it's Sunday night, the chores are done,
and all is peaceful.
Here's to a fresh, new week for all of us!
~~~~~

newsflash

Guess what I learned at the Annual Plant & Bake Sale

that benefits our town library:

Spiderwort also comes in white!

I bought four pots of blue and two of white

(donated from local gardens)

and got them all into the ground

before the rain started this evening.

What I didn't do - as you may have noticed -

is take pictures when there was still enough light

for taking good pictures.

Normally, I wait til I have decent snaps before posting.

But this is different:

I felt you needed to know about the white spiderwort

right away.

Good pictures may come later.

After it stops raining.

~~~~~

nearly wordless sunday

I dozed off three times while loading this collage.

G'night now!

~~~~~

a bit more gardening

I'm going to try to plant a little something every day.

It may not be possible,

but I will try.

Yesterday I planted a few things at the town plot:

Root crops!!

 And just look at Piper, checking my pea placement:

She is such a stickler for even spacing.

Today I gardened at home;

expanding the fenced area of the terrace garden,

transplanting four butternut squash seedlings,

and putting in a block of sweet corn:

Can't you just taste that sweet corn?

I was determined to get the corn in before the rain began,

so I worked until I sort of fell over,

and finished just before the first drops fell.

Very satisfying.

Now we are expecting two days of rain.

If it's off and on, I may be able to do more planting.

If not, I'll at least do some prepping for related tasks,

because Wednesday I've got a new helper coming

to work with me on gates and fencing for a couple of hours.

But as soon as weather permits, I will be planting:

more seeds!

I'm done buying seeds for the year now, I think.

(I'm pretty sure.)

And as I say goodbye to the Dog Days of August

which came in May this year,

I'd like to share one bit of quite thrilling garden news.

Ready?

Guess what this is:

Or maybe I should say,

guess where  this is...

because this Red Kuri Squash is

the very first planted seed to sprout in the

Very Raised Bed!

Gardening:

the adventure continues.

~~~~~

plotting

Spring (detail)      Jacob Grimmer ca.1525-1590

Garden 2015 is finally underway!

There have already been a couple of nice surprises.

First, I happened to arrive at the feed store

just after they had set out all their plants.

I may have been the first customer to see it. 

Row upon row, table after table,

and not a gap anywhere.

There were a few gaps when I left, though.

I treated myself to perennial flowers.

Not just one or two, as usual, but a dozen!

Some are potential dye plants I've been hoping to find.

Others were unfamiliar, but chosen because

they can tolerate partial shade.

Like this Milky Bellflower: 

The image below clearly demonstrates what gardening is like here.

See that little yarrow plant?

See that pile of rocks?

ALL those rocks came from the hole dug for a 1-quart yarrow.

It's like some kind of freakish twist in the law of nature:

every hole I dig produces a greater volume of stone

than the volume of the hole.

I cannot explain it.

But I live it.

Several plants went into one of my existing garden beds.
But five are in a new spot, along a path
I walk several times each day for chores.

Flowers along the way? A very cheering prospect!

~~~ 

A second surprise:

I was invited to take a plot at the community garden in town.

This idea had never once occurred to me.

I thought community gardens and allotments

were specifically for people who have no land.

(But now that I've typed that...

in this rural town, I'm not sure who those folks could be.)

Then I thought about what a battle it is to garden at my place.

My land is composed almost entirely of stones,

with little bits of rusty soil in between.

And direct sunlight is at a premium;

it's always a challenge to decide what I might squeeze in.

So, maybe I should try adding a garden in town?

After waiting a week in case any landless soul needed the plot -

- there are only 8 in total -

I inquired and found there was one space left.

Already rototilled.

Ha! I still managed to get the only spot with shade!

But just in the morning.

With this extra plot - about 20 by 25 feet -

I suddenly have more options, and much more direct sun.

And for the first time in decades, I can plant root crops.

This is thrilling! I use a lot of root crops.

Yesterday, on the way home
from a doctor's appointment an hour away,

I visited a couple of feed stores and bought a few seeds:

Does that look like a lot?

Am I being too optimistic?

At least I can count on Piper to help with the planting.

Lots of work ahead, but it's an exciting experiment!

So tell me...how does your garden grow?

~~~~~