It is now late May. I quit updating the journal in January because my hands got bad (I have cubital tunnel syndrome) and digging was painful. Then I went back to work and my time got eaten. sorry I haven't written much -- all of you people can blow me.
Anyway, it's late may. We have 8 raised vegetable beds in, and they ALL HAVE THINGS GROWING IN THEM NOW. In no particular order, the 8 beds contain:
- Cole crops (green cabbage, red cabbage, broccoli, romanesco broccoli, red brussels sprouts, green brussels sprouts, and nasturtiums for color)
- Greens (Swiss chard, spinach, green lettuce (which hasn't done well at all), red lettuce (which has done well enough to make up for it), and miscellaneous salad mix, plus pansies for color)
- Onions (yellow, white and red) plus pansies for color
- Root Vegetables (beets, radishes, turnips, carrots, plus nasturtiums for color)
- Peppers (only chili peppers at the moment; more next week)
- Tomatoes (red, yellow, cherry; plus, of course, nasturtiums for color)
- Beans (green, cannellini, and black)
- Miscellany (only fennel at the moment. Cucumbers and zucchini to come.)
My partner is sitting on the couch right now, watching CNN and trying to rehydrate fast enough not to get sunstroke. We ripped out the uninspired lumps of juniper, and he has just finished putting in a shrub border which looks rather sparse right now, but will hopefully come up soon. This same man weeded the entire back yard in a single day, several weeks ago.
We have tied up the raspberry canes, and put in a place on the south side of the house for sweet corn. I have extended the herb garden -- well, to be more accurate, myself and my friend Regis spent forty backbreaking minutes lifting and breaking sod. OK, mostly Regis. That nearly killed us. I am so glad I can be a software geek for a living, instead of a farmer. I have just finished planting sweet basil and chives out there. My sage plants have gotten FREAKIN' HUGE and are threatening to overwhelm the tarragon.
The peony plant which made one sad bloom for us last year is larger than I am now. All the lilies are coming up; the shade garden I put in is burgeoning. May is great for gardeners. Even if you do nothing, so much happens that you feel like a genius.
Several weeks ago, Erik and our friend Joe weeded the front yard, and found a layer of 4-mil plastic underneath ALL the landscaping in the front yard. No wonder the rhododendrons had crisped.
Life is good.
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