Sunday, April 15, 2012

It feels like a late opening...

So, after a strangely un-snowy winter (especially compared to last winter's snowfest!), and after a couple bouts of unseasonally warm weather here in the Boston area, we had the official opening day of our community gardens.

We got a lot of work done; it was a great day for it so our various workteams cleared a lot of invasives, brush, and (!!!) very stubborn thorned cane, along with moving several piles of compost, brush, and miscellaneous trash that didn't belong there.

{My back hurts though. It's nagging me to be more dutiful about my yoga if I'm going to insist on this 'bending over and digging and hoeing' business in the garden.}

Random thought: Why does using a lopper to attack those big thorny canes feel so satisfying? Never mind. It does. The local groundhog's den was uncovered, and now he no longer has a convenient briar patch from which to conduct his marauding in our gardens. He's a clever bugger, climbing over our fences in spite of our efforts to discourage him. One gardener laughed wryly that yes, his tunneling was probably hopelessly more thorough than the New York subway system. He may be right, but I'm still enthusiastic about planting my garden.

Which, thanks especially to some help from one of my neighbors in clearing out the winter's growth of brush and grass overgrowth from my plots, I'm ready to plant!




I grabbed some fresh seeds from the store, and I may stop in and peruse the available potted plants from the nursery just so that I can have a little instant green to add to my perennials.

Up so far: the acquilegia, the poppies, various mints that I have (of course, they're immortal and hard to eradicate), and of course the oregano. Also, the 'gift' daffodil bulbs are in bloom (and the blooms so heavy they've tipped over, poor things. I always feel bad when they do that). The rhubarb plants have peeped up and are already in leaf - the warm weather has definitely confused them; they're usually only just peeking upward from the ground, little pink eggs emerging from the earth.




Thanks also to the obliging weather, I got my first bit of sunshine for the season: a little tiny bit of pink on my neck, arms, and forehead. I'll take it! It feels good after being indoors much of the winter. I'm a little curious about how tomorrow's Boston Marathon will go, considering the expected temperature spike (90s F) - I know someone running the race, so I'm more conscious of the weather than I normally would be. {Good luck, runners!}

I'm almost finished with my tea, as I sit here and write this. Now that the season is upon us though, I plan to be posting regularly again. Please drop by and say hello when you find the time. :)

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