Vegetable Garden

The garden is officially,and finally, up and running! Whew!!!

This year's garden has been much more stressful and much less serene than last year's garden. I think it is just the weather's fault. Last year, Spring came early, gradually and gently. This year, not so much. It has been cold and rainy, hot and steamy, cold and rainy, WINDY, hot, hot hot, freezing.... You get the idea. Very frustrating and un-motivating. And there is nothing that I can do about it, being the weather and all.

Enough complaining! As of last weekend, we're off and running, vegetable-wise. Everything is planted in my wonderful beds and, as we speak, MSU is analyzing the dirt in our back yard. What will we plant back there? who knows! (I have some ideas.) The leaf lettuce is ready for eating and it's lovely! Asher and I have it for our lunches every day. Spinach is coming along but the hot, hot days make me nervous for it. I also have squirrels nibbling at my broccoli and cauliflower to the extent that I had to buy a few of each plant to day to replace the chewed-on ones. Stupid squirrels! I am, again, threatening these rodents at the point of an imaginary shotgun! (I'm complaining again, aren't I?)

The potato plants are growing and growing- at least above ground! I've got oodles of thyme that I love to run my hand through so they smell like thyme. I looooove the smell of thyme! And, I am anxiously watching tomato plants grow and signs of carrots and beans emerge. Okay, I guess it's not all that bad!

Over last weekend, we bought three yards of mulch (not enough) and began mulching about. The areas we got to look beautiful! We've been planting flowers where ever we can and I've been beautifying the chicken coop/run area. That's been kind of fun, hangin' out with my girls.

Back to the backyard.... We have this section in the farthest corner that gets any sunlight that used to be our garden. Things grew there but not prolifically. We think it my be the soil in that area so that's why we are having it tested. When we get the results we'll alter the soil accordingly and start planting. But what to plant? I've thought about corn and sunflowers. Maybe some pumpkins, too. I've thought about raspberries and blueberries. What about apple trees? I don't know. I'd like what ever goes back there to be low maintenance. I'm also thinking about giving that garden to Nathanael to care for it. I'll let you know....

Back to the sewing table and Hansel (of  "Hansel & Gretel"). There's a bit of a vegetable theme (think kabob) in his portrait so it ties in with all of this garden talk nicely!