gardening in the rain

I didn't originally plan to garden in the rain today. It was supposed to rain in the afternoon (it rained in the morning). I was up early anyway (had a work conference call at 7 a.m.). The farmer's market was still selling beautiful things and I couldn't contain myself (let's pretend to be surprised).

So, I tackled a bunch of things:

Check marks galore.

Project #1: Fixed up the herb garden outside the back door

BEFORE

• Planted new basil, nasturtiums, rosemary and another tomato plant in pots
• Pulled weeds 
• Added soil to level out the sloping garden bed
• Planted onions at the bottom of the bed
• Fixed the hutch (it was old, and needed screws instead of nails. I also drilled some holes for water to drain out)
• Rearranged everything for maximum sunlight angles
• Planted wildflowers from Caitlin & Alex's wedding last weekend in a newly filled-in patch behind the mint pot (where the cilantro and peppers used to be)

Project #2: Added flowers to the whiskey barrel planter out front

• Moved two plants to sunnier locations on the side yard
• Added spikes, begonias, creeping jenny and some pretty yellow & purple flowers

Project #3: Weeded and mulched the Hydrangea tree beds (one near the patio, one in the middle of the yard)

Project #4: Staking tomatoes (pictured: four cherry tomato plants, which are growing like gangbusters in a planter on the south side of the yard)

In between all the projects, I got to admire squash blossoms, potato plant flowers, baby strawberries, the summer's first pepper (so early!) AND A FROG.

 

First harvest of the year: kale, lettuce, basil, lemon verbena, cilantro, raspberries and one strawberry :)

This is how excited (and dirty) I was when I finished: 

Oh yeah, and the sun came out :) 

Fan Fixer

Sometimes you do things out of sheer desperation. Such as, within two minutes of meeting your friend's new boyfriend AND finding out he lives in your neighborhood AND that he's good at fixing things (specifically, a carpenter), and immediately upon processing all of this information, asking if you can cook him dinner in exchange for him trying to fix your ceiling fan, which has been on since last August (and annoyingly, all winter long) because the chain fell out of the fan one day.

You might be tempted to hide under a rock after saying such a thing to a stranger, but instead you sort of laugh it off. And then the NEXT time you see him, the prospect of getting your ceiling fan fixed has you so giddy that you pull out your calendar and set a date right then and there. It's a good thing your friend loves you so much that her boyfriend doesn't think you're completely out of your mind. Or maybe he does but he hides it very well.

And then, because of your desperate ask, and maybe because of the sausage & polenta casserole, he manages to fix your fan (and also, to label the fuse box, which the previous owner never got around to doing when it came to the upstairs switch).

Hallej-freakin-ullah.

Thanks Daniel!!!

Berry Amazing

Strawberries and raspberries are showing their little faces in the garden!

26

I bought a garden yesterday.

Only kind of kidding. I've been dreaming up lots of fun changes to the yard this spring, and after a very successful (and reasonably priced) escapade at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market yesterday, I am now the caretaker for 26 varieties of edible things:

• Tomatoes (five varieties, eight plants) -- new
• Peppers (four varieties) -- new
• Kale -- new
• Cilantro -- new
• Basil -- new
• Chives -- existing
• Raspberries (two bushes) -- new, to replace the one that died
• Lettuce -- new
• Swiss Chard -- new
• Zucchini -- new
• Summer Squash -- seeds
• Acorn Squash -- seeds
• Lemon Cucumber -- seeds
• Mint -- existing
• Lemon Verbena -- new
• Lavender -- new
• Sage -- existing
• Strawberries -- new
• Rosemary -- existing since March

Plus, I got two new bushes for the front yard garden: a white hydrangea (shade variety) and an astilbe (also loves shade, and will have red and pink flowers eventually). I also planted three red begonias in the front, and two dahlia plants on the side where the tulips used to be ... both are the annual varieties, and we'll see how they do this year before I bother with bulbs.

I'd still like to plant beets and maybe some more greens (arugula or spinach) but I'll have to see how everything works in their new homes this year. I moved the tomatoes from the patio garden bed to the front/side yard, since that area gets the most sun. And I made a squash patch out of the old raspberry bush area. I'll pull together a map eventually for those of you who want to see how it's all laid out. (Also a bummer this year: no rhubarb! It grew wild in the yard the first year I lived here, but this year is nowhere to be found. Boo.)

And just in time, we got a monster of a thunderstorm last night. It actually brought down a number of branches in the front yard, which narrowly missed taking out all my new plantings. Anyone need firewood? :)

A jumble of photos below... hopefully will have some harvest photos sooner than later this year! Until then, we have peonies and peonies and more peonies.

Critter Tales

This would be my overgrown backyard (already! so much rain!) and my backyard bunny. He's becoming very tame. By which I mean, he doesn't run away when I walk through the yard or sneak up on him to take pictures. Mostly.

My hope is that someday he can intervene on my behalf with my nemesis, mr. woodpecker, who has taken up residence in the tree outside my bedroom window.

But Bunny hasn't moved from his super strategic watch out post (middle of the yard) in at least 10 minutes. So maybe he's not the aggressive type. Which is a bummer, because I'd gladly pay him in kale (on purpose this year) if he'd convince mr. woodpecker to find a new neighborhood.

In other backyard animal shenanigan news, the squirrels are no more adept at balancing on the new gutters than they were the old ones.