A Day in the Garden

With yesterday being a warm, dry day, and today being a warm, dry day, I took advantage of the opportunity to work in the garden. The last two weeks have been rainy and cool, so putting out seeds didn't seem like a great idea. A lot of hard work most likely would have ended up water-logged. Though it's a bit later than I like for starting with seeds, I'm glad I waited.

After a short time sitting on the deck this morning, I pulled all the materials together and started in. Around 11, my lovely daughter called me in for Easter brunch. She loves to work in the kitchen, and between her and her boyfriend whipping up brunch, we all enjoyed veggie omelets, waffles with blueberry syrup and whipped topping, bacon, sausage gravy and biscuits, and coffee. What a feast! Talk turned to past vacations we've taken over the years, and for a little while, we sat and laughed, remembering little moments we all now cherish.

The dirt JK made!

As my daughter began cleaning up the kitchen, I slipped on my rubber garden boots and returned to my work. Hubby joined me, and with his help, I was able to get my first load of compost dirt shoveled onto a tarp and dragged to the garden. I started composting a year and a half ago. Today, the garden received its first dose of dark, beautiful compost. Thinking about how leaves, grass, and food waste combine to make dirt amazes me. Just think if every family composted. What a wonderful thought that is.

A baby tarantula?

Once the compost was in place, Hubby and I began cleaning up the fruit garden. The grapevines are beginning to leaf out. The strawberries are beginning to spread new sprouts. The blueberry bushes are beginning to send out new shoots. Even the raspberry vines are showing new growth. I'm still very much a newbie with fruits, so I need to read up on how to help each plant be as healthy as possible. I did find out that my two dwarf apple trees most likely won't bear for another year; usually it takes four years of growth before they're mature enough. So next year, maybe I'll see some apples from my two little trees. While in the fruit garden, I was joined by a rather large spider. It seemed a little sluggish. Perhaps I disturbed it from its winter slumber.

By 4 o'clock, I was ready to call it a day. The onions are set. The potatoes are cut and drying and will be ready to plant in a day or two. The lettuce seeds, arugula seeds, and spinach seeds have been sown. Still a lot of garden to plant, but for now, I'm going to stand back and enjoy what we've accomplished today.