Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Garden time

We've had nice weather here the last few days--today it was almost 80--and I've been getting the garden ready. I've cleared out the dead stuff from last year (actually, I just dropped the mower as low as it will go and ground that stuff into mulch), and I've put down fresh compost over my planting beds. I just need to put some fresh bark mulch in my walkways, and my garden will be ready. This is my favorite time of the garden year; my garden is neat and tidy, with fresh, dark compost in the beds set against the light mulch of the walkways. The dead plants are gone, and the weeds haven't come up. I'm still planning what to plant this year and dreaming of what it will look like. My garden is peaceful and clean, and I'm hopeful that I'll grow some good stuff.

Unfortunately, I'm much better at cleaning and tidying than I am at getting plants to grow. In two years, I've gotten half a dozen big tomatoes, two bowls of black-eyed peas, and no corn--not one ear. I did make a pumpkin vine that was about thirty yards long last year, but all it produced was a pair of volleyball-sized pumpkins, one of which grew with a big cone-shaped dent in the side. I always hope for a wonderful garden full of fresh veggies, so that I can come home from work and just pick some stuff for dinner. Sadly, I wind up going to the store for produce most of the summer.

Oh well--I'm hopeful that this year will be different, and that's why this is my favorite time of the garden year.

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