Entry tags:
Spring Greening
Okay. I slept miserably last night, and I am tired and terrified and generally unable to slow down enough to figure out which direction I'm running in. But even with that, there are a few things that can make me feel like the world is a good place. My husband is one of them, and my garden is another.
I've been slowly assembling seedlings and seeds, as he put together beds and toted bags of soil and fertilizer, and today was the day we had set aside to actually get stuff into the dirt. Luckily, the universe obliged for once, gifting us with a clear, sunny, warm, breezy day that was perfect for working outdoors. The garden store had the last few pieces we needed (they had been out of broccoli seedlings last time we stopped by), and our budget gave us enough wiggle room to pick up a few extras - mint to grow in a pot on the porch, marigolds to add color and keep bugs away, wildflower seeds for the empty beds I never got around to putting flowers in.
I have spent the last three hours, give or take, working with my hands in the dirt. Breaking up soil and pulling the last few weeds, hollowing out niches for the potatoes, unmolding and replanting seedlings, poking holes and tucking seeds into the earth. Our garden keeps getting bigger every year, mostly because each year we try one or two new things and wind up deciding that they're awesome and we need more of them. At this point our backyard is a yard in name only, more resembling a checkerboard grid of square foot beds than anything else, but that's fine by me. I love watching things grow, I love being able to pick dinner from my yard, and I love sharing what we grow with our friends.
This year, for those who care, we've planted:
( hidden, for those who don't care )
We probably don't need all of this, but it's fun, and it makes me happy, and we do use it. And what we don't use gets handed off to friends, neighbors, and occasionally slow passers-by.
Right now my jeans are muddy and there's dirt under my fingernails, and there are three beds plus three more mini-beds happily soaking up their first watering outside. And while I'm not dancing about elated and miraculously cured, my headache is fading and I feel like I can at least face the world. If I'm lucky we'll find an excuse to go for a walk later this afternoon, and that will give me enough spare cope to make it through the night without nightmares or panic attacks.
One day at a time. And now there are green things growing in my yard, to watch and care for and harvest, every day.
I've been slowly assembling seedlings and seeds, as he put together beds and toted bags of soil and fertilizer, and today was the day we had set aside to actually get stuff into the dirt. Luckily, the universe obliged for once, gifting us with a clear, sunny, warm, breezy day that was perfect for working outdoors. The garden store had the last few pieces we needed (they had been out of broccoli seedlings last time we stopped by), and our budget gave us enough wiggle room to pick up a few extras - mint to grow in a pot on the porch, marigolds to add color and keep bugs away, wildflower seeds for the empty beds I never got around to putting flowers in.
I have spent the last three hours, give or take, working with my hands in the dirt. Breaking up soil and pulling the last few weeds, hollowing out niches for the potatoes, unmolding and replanting seedlings, poking holes and tucking seeds into the earth. Our garden keeps getting bigger every year, mostly because each year we try one or two new things and wind up deciding that they're awesome and we need more of them. At this point our backyard is a yard in name only, more resembling a checkerboard grid of square foot beds than anything else, but that's fine by me. I love watching things grow, I love being able to pick dinner from my yard, and I love sharing what we grow with our friends.
This year, for those who care, we've planted:
( hidden, for those who don't care )
We probably don't need all of this, but it's fun, and it makes me happy, and we do use it. And what we don't use gets handed off to friends, neighbors, and occasionally slow passers-by.
Right now my jeans are muddy and there's dirt under my fingernails, and there are three beds plus three more mini-beds happily soaking up their first watering outside. And while I'm not dancing about elated and miraculously cured, my headache is fading and I feel like I can at least face the world. If I'm lucky we'll find an excuse to go for a walk later this afternoon, and that will give me enough spare cope to make it through the night without nightmares or panic attacks.
One day at a time. And now there are green things growing in my yard, to watch and care for and harvest, every day.