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?

~~~~~

friday follow-ups

Just a few brief notes about
things that have been happening here this week.

Azalea and Campion had their first birthday!

Azalea is maturing very nicely:

And Campion is now taller than his mama!

Remember when they were born?

I sure do!

Azalea and Campion, one year ago.
~~~

The porch floor:

it's finished - five coats - and looks good.

Really good.

Now a thorough cleaning is needed, to get rid of the sawdust lingering in every nook and cranny of the porch.

And all the windows must be washed.

This will be an opportunity(!) to try

the extreme-housework-with-audiobook system.

So far, I have:

1) found the 5-foot stepladder, and

2) lugged it from the workshop to the house.

It's a start!

But I'm going to save this task until it's too hot to work outside.

Other than Quite Small Tasks, 

everything happens on a Priority basis around here

and most of my priorities are outside.

~~~

In the Quite Small Task category:

my unstained cherry table gets an occasional application of oil.

I took the opportunity of doing it outdoors this week.

This is a genuinely enjoyable task.

Then I put the little table on the porch.

The room immediately shrank before my eyes!

It will be difficult to decide what goes on the porch.

I'm thinking beloved and happymaking items only.

The cherry table probably stays.

~~~

In other cherry-related news:

I've started a bucket of black cherry soaking for dye. 

Prunus serotina

I've never used cherry before, but Annie Cholewa recently blogged about her experiences with it. I don't know what species Annie used, but probably not the one I'm using.

An interesting experiment anyway.

And in my ongoing efforts to avoid using mordants (which improve the colors but alter the fiber) either to pretreat fiber or as part of the dyebath, I've poked around online and found a mordant-free method involving two separate cherry dyebaths at different pH extremes.

Well worth a try!

~~~

And now, I'm heading back outside to shift some fence panels.

Have a lovely Friday, everyone!

~~~~~

wordless wednesday

~~~~~

four weeks

You know how I mentioned yesterday that I am having trouble

getting decent snaps of Tansy and Fern?

Here's why:

~~~~~