Busy, busy, busy....

It's been in the 70s for the last few days, though that's about to end as a cold front rolls through tonight. It'll give me a chance to recover from all the digging and lifting I've been doing.

I spent most of the weekend and half of today doing some general cleanup and getting my raised veggie beds ready for this year's crops. I'll be growing my usual tomatoes and pickles, along with jalapeno and poblano peppers. Kentucky Wonder green beans, too. I keep saying I'm going to plant fewer tomatoes but I always leave the garden center with way too many.

Will be doing spuds again, though not as many as the last few years. We end up inundated with potatoes between our own crop and our CSA farmer's offerings.

I found this website called Seeds from Italy and ordered some arugula, lacinato kale (love, love love this), spinach, and Romano pole beans. Could only get the bush version of Romanos last year. They were good but yields on bush beans are so much lower than pole varieties, so I scrounged around early to find what I wanted.

https://www.growitalian.com/

The jostaberry and the red and black currant bushes got pruned. I need to read up on how to prune my red gooseberries. The rabbits got to my red raspberry bushes over the winter. I have no idea why they love to eat those thorny canes...

Anybody else out there digging around?

Sunny and 72 today. Glorious!

I wasn’t as industrious as WTG but I did clean up the yard a bit, cleaned up after the dog, and checked the various plants to see what has survived the winter.

Pretty good, all told. Day Lillies are poking through, hydrangeas are growing new leaves, azaleas have new leaves. Magnolia tree buds are swelling. The sage finally succumbed but the thyme is looking good!

Cold hardy gardenia is looking bad but the branches are still pliable. Perhaps there is hope. No word from the new yellow roses yet.

After I checked it all out I sat on a chair in the middle of the backyard, listened to a concert and just soaked up the sun. Sam took the opportunity to sleep next to me.

Bliss!

I wish I had a green thumb!

I'm afraid it's all watering and weed pulling for me.

We had a few weeks of cooler temps but we're gearing up for some nice weather...

I got me some new garden shoes. Happy feet!



And some screens to hide my composters and stacks of pots:



Stocked up on potting mix at Costco, a couple of bucks off a bag.

Planted peas last week. Gotta get the kale and spinach in.

It's gonna be a busy week!

Nice!

In London staying with daughters and it's like sunny summer, low twenties t-shirt weather, with builders on the roof shirtless.
Visited a friend in Walthamstow and they have a mature lilac tree which was in full bloom, fabulous scennt filling the garden.
The fields around London are already yellow with rapeseed.

Bought a new watering can today. Brilliant design, has a swivel spout that allows a shower or a stream. Also a pivoting handle for two-handed pouring. Great balance when it's full of water. Got mine at Menards at a lower price.

https://www.amazon.com/Bloem-W...7287CP/dp/B0029D6NZC

got quite a few horseback rides in. hard to stay indoors when it is so nice out, and i have plenty to do indoors.

i don't start gardening here before june. too much guaranteed heartbreak. plus i'm working hard at restabilizing my pelvis and gardening just would set me back.

winter returns tonight. my mare has her blanket back on in anticipation. the last few days she didn't need one and turned herself into a total pigpen.

after this spate of cold weather passes i'll be going to spend some time with a mustang filly i am considering buying. she's four years old, from the devil's garden band in NE california. they are escaped cavalry horses that have been running at large for about 100 years--and she's the band's typical bay roan. she's been in captivity all of last year and has been gentled, but not started under saddle. the devil's garden mustangs are called the "beginner's mustang" because they typically have very sweet and gentle temperaments. which she does. she was following me around when we went to go meet her last week.

i will try to get some house cleaning and purging done during the winter storm.