Monday, April 19, 2010

More yard stuff

When I got home from my weekend trip I noticed the daffodils by the driveway were gone. I think it was Thursday afternoon that I was chatting with the neighbor and her little boy and he was picking my grape hyacinths. I told him he could pick them but he could not pick the yellow flowers. I wasn't surprised to see the daffodils gone. I shouldn't have said anything - it was like giving a criminal a list of what you have in your house and then leaving town.

On a brighter note, I just came inside from working in the yard. I FINALLY planted all my seeds. I built a little garden using concrete edgings that used to be around some trees in my yard that I thought looked a bit tacky. They helped create a bit of a raised bed that I then filled with potting soil type stuff. Black Gold is the brand, I think. I bought it at Big Lots a couple months ago - it's a mix of the three types of stuff the square foot gardening people recommend. Then I made some rows and emptied my seed packets. I didn't exactly intend to plant every seed I had, but my hose connection was a bit crazy and water sprayed everywhere, wetting my gloves and all my seed packets. I figured they wouldn't store well being all wet, besides many of my seeds were a couple years old - well, maybe half. Anyway, I've planted beets, lettuce, radishes, marigolds, green onions, carrots, Swiss chard, and green peppers. Then in another patch I've used pretty regularly, I threw down some old potting soil, mixed it in with the base soil, and planted my tomato seeds. I now - they'll probably not produce in time, but at least the seeds are out of my face causing guilt. I've done such things in the past and managed to harvest some food. Oh, in a long open rocky spot I threw down some squash seeds - can't remember the kind - acorn I think. Anyway, I then found three planters that came with my house and have held a variety of plants over the years. I filled them with more potting soil and threw in the following seeds: chives, basil, and cilantro. I really really really hope I can harvest some food. And I really really really hope I remember to water and weed and feed the plants without accidentally taking the plant itself out by mistake. We shall see. I feel a lot better now about spring finally being here. I've ignored it long enough and my life feels a little less cluttered with the seed packets out of my kitchen and soil bags emptied where they belong. Now to figure out what's up with my hose connection. Any outdoor plumbing experts volunteering their services?

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