Monday, May 10, 2010

Head Down, Butt in the Air, Dirty Nails

Does that ring a bell?

Get thee to a garden!  It's gotten serious here, more chores than a yardless person can imagine.

Weeding and clearing are probably the most time-consuming and laborious activities around our platz of late.  Oh, there has been plenty of that seed-starting and -tending, and we are increasingly into the planting.  But the jungles in various parts of the yard (including weeds in the lawn) cry for attention.

In the meantime, it is essential to stop at least on occasion to savor.  If you're like me, the lilac image alone is enough to get the nostrils working.

We've had some surprisingly cool nights (and days!) here lately, despite some earlier balmy times.  We're trying to be conservative in planting things out, particularly sensitive veggies.  No tomatoes in the ground yet, though Marg and I have acquired a nice collection and are eager to see what they can do this year.  We ordered up some red plastic for the first time, hoping that might partly counteract our sea-going breezes that tend to limit our plants from flourishing as they should.

In the meantime, I soaked and started fava beans saved from last year and am amazed at a 90%+ germination rate.  These are truly sturdy beans - as might be imagined since I gather we could have planted them last Fall if we were so inclined, along with garlic. 

Our first fava batch is doing well in the garden here and I gather also at next-door neighbor's.  I have a second even larger batch to contend with soon.  Brassica's in background of picture courtesy of Mom are also doing well, along with kale, chard, and cauliflower starts from elementary school plant sale.  I may have planted these a bit tight, but even with our pretty extensive veggie area that is almost a necessity.  At Mom's suggestion (she does have an MS in Botany, mind you!), I am trying collars on the brassicas.

And I did my third planting of pre-soaked peas yesterday.  My record is spotty again this year on germination.  I stopped using pea-inocculant, annoyed at price, but I can't imagine that has anything to do with actual germination.  Perhaps soaking time is sensitive?  Maybe I am drowning the darlings.  Anyway, the pole starts you see here are more numerous than in lower, cooler garden.  I put out some more soaked peas there yesterday, gingerly working manure into soil first.

And here's some of the lineup just waiting for attention, namely sweet peas and more favas.

With luck, as the day winds down, you get to enjoy a nice bit of sunset while standing erect, almost like a Homo sapiens.