I have not been blogging that long, just since January. I set the goal of one post per week when I first started. I had the feeling back in January that once gardening season hit, my posts would be fewer and farther between. The last month has been proof in the pudding.
It's not for lack of something to say, it's for simple lack of time.
Just as I knew it would, the snow melted, the grass greened up, daffodils shot up out of the ground, and frogs started serenading us every night. The seeds arrived in the mail and I started some inside. Hubby and I plowed the field. The onion plants arrived. Saint Patrick's Day (should be re-named "Pea Planting Day" around here) came and went, and our ground was way too wet to plant just yet. Plus we were building a "pea arbor."
Hubby has had a dream for several years of making a "tunnel of peas" with our pea trellis. This year, he made it happen (with my help, of course). He planted our first batch of peas and now that they are emerging, both of us are super excited imagining the vines covering the trellis, first up, then overhead. We will plant our lettuce inside the tunnel, and as it matures, so will the peas, providing shade for the lettuce. We are hoping this will help our greens to last a while longer, into the heat of the summer.
Easter came and went and we started working on planting the onions. Seven hundred this year, more or less. Last year we planted around five hundred and I just finished using my last braid last week. Maybe this season next year they will last through May!
My seed potatoes are in hand and I am planning a new method of planting this year, involving thick layers of mulch. As a result, Hubby has been getting loads of composted horse manure and old straw. He has been spreading this on the unplanted fields and using it to clean up our "fertile crescent." Several years back we tilled a crescent shaped bed and started planting ornamentals, bulbs, and perennials. The crescent has gone to beg the last several years for lack of time and mulch. This year we are trying to improve the crescent so it really is fertile.
All of this takes oodles of time, especially when you factor in meals, schoolwork, and housework.
Winter is a time of reflection and dormancy. Out here, we really do slip into a pseudo-hibernation, with the exception of getting enough firewood to heat the house. Spring is the time of fresh starts and lots of work. Exciting rejuvenation and rebirth, waking up our bodies to the clean air and fresh earth we occupy.
So, bear with me as my posts become more sporadic! Spring has officially sprung, so for now... back to my tasks at hand.
