This morning the fog laid low on the hills and the smoke from the fireplace hung around the chimney. Low pressure at its best. The soil is so saturated it squeezes out water at every footstep. The gardens--well, there's no walking in them, certainly.
Fog and rain in March are good things. The soil is wet way down deep, and softened for easy planting when we get some dry weather. The peas are marching on, growing slowly but surely, a little row of green. The other things we planted are coming along too, not as fast as they might have with a warmer March, but still, it's a start. With better weather we might have been eating lettuce by now. Not this year though.
I found my current bushes leafing out, even though Larry weedshacked them last fall. The blueberries don't seem to have survived the trauma, so once more I'll be ordering blueberry plants and trying again. This makes the...I don't even want to count how many times I have planted blueberries. Or raspberries. But it took many tries to finally get a cherry tree to survive tractors and deer and Larry, so maybe there is still hope. At lease the thornless blackberries are thriving (thanks, Theresa!).
It's inventory time: what made it, what didn't. What to replace, what to dig out. What to move, what to thin. That will be April's work, along with continued planting and getting plants into the greenhouse. I have loved winter with its time to do house things. I think winter is finally behind us (did I just jinx it?) and now I'm putting my mind to the gardens and spring. The rain and fog will leave this weekend, and that urge to plant will get stronger.
As Larry says, he'll know it's spring when I start moving rocks around in my gardens. So far, I haven't moved any this year. Maybe this week, though...there's a few that have slid out of place.
Um, Granny Sue, it _sounds_ like you plant rocks in your garden ;-) Maybe you use them for stepping stones???
ReplyDeleteCuriously yours,
Kate
I do plant them, Kate! Here and there--a quartz one from my Mom's, a granite one we found at the beach, a white stone with seashell fossils that we found in the mountains of WV (go figure). I also use them for stepping stones and for garden walls. Larry doesn't much like them because he says they attract snakes, and he's kinda right--I did turn on up once to pull the weeds around it, and there was a copperhead underneath. Big surprise to me and the snake.
ReplyDeleteYou are making me wish for a garden now. I have a balcony that allows me to indulge a bit. I've got my eye on a plot at my boyfriend's place: I have SNAKE GOURD seeds! Can't wait to try & grow them. According to the seed packet, they are fang-tastic. :)
ReplyDeleteOoohh, snake gourds! My husband would be frantic :)
ReplyDeleteI think winter's only waving from the next hill. She's smiling her ancient smile and reminiscing a bit which will give us folks a chill and a snowflake or two. But she's moving on. If you listen, you will hear her walking stick hitting the ice in streams as she crosses. Behind her, the streams let go and come down to nourish the lowland gardens.
ReplyDeleteah...gardens
Speaking of which -- I want to grow gourds, but I never get them to dry properly. Any tips? I want to make rattles.
beautifully put, Kate. She's tossing a few snowflakes outside right now.
ReplyDeleteGourds--I leave mine in the garden pretty late, pull them just before frost usually. I'm talking about the birdhouse gourds which are the only ones I usually plant. Dry them in a dry, airy place--warm attic or someplace like that.
I'm glad the blackberries made it. I'll bring some raspberry if you like, they have a mind of their own in my garden, and a strong willed one at that! I use rocks all over, I love rocks. Drives Jay crazy, I pick them up whenever we travel by car and I see a good one for the garden. Love and hugs. Oh and Granny Kate, that was beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI would love some raspberries, Theresa. Maybe if I'm here to tend them they'll do better. I used to have a good patch, but they died out due to lack of attention. They're a little particular, it seems!
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