“And we who listen to the stars, or walk the dusty grade
Or break the very atoms down to see how they are made,
Or study cells, or living things, seek truth with open hand.
The profoundest act of worship is to try to understand.”– “The Word of God” by Catherine Faber
Look at the surprise Michael had waiting for him when outside today? Luckily the old spare was in good condition (and it actually a full sized tire too.) Still not fun of course, 
The weather is still beautiful, but today is probably the last day of that till the middle of next week. We need the rain though. I went ahead and planted some leaf lettuce outside. As long as we don’t go below 28F it should be okay, and if not, I still have a million little seeds. I also started some basil seeds inside.
Speaking of plants, these little things started sprouting by our garage a couple weeks ago. They are on the north side of the garage (shade) and have tuberous roots. I know it is a little early to identify plants, but do these look familiar? I am in zone 5a. I hope they are pretty, right now I am just happy to see something new and green!
It has been beautiful for several days now, mid 60s, sunny clear blue skies, bird singing (or whatever that ruckus the pine jays make is…) So naturally I have been spending very little time indoors. Damian is like me, he hates being cooped up when the Mother Nature rouses from her winter slumber and calls us out. We have been going on lots of walks since Windigo went missing and they have been wonderful in this weather. I have more or less stopped wearing Damian in a wrap since he has become too active to be tied up like that all the time. He loves riding in his red stroller now though, especially with a sippy full of water. He points it this way and that in a (successful) attempts to direct me. “I’ll drink, you drive!” Seems to be his motto as of late.
Beyond our walks, I have been working in the yard. I finished building the compost bin and the herb bed beside the deck (still have to buy the soil to fill it) and am currently working on raking up all the winter debris from the rest of the yard so that I can build a potager for my summer vegetable garden. I have resisted the urge to plant thus far, mostly. I know there will be another hard frost, no matter how beautiful is right now. I did cave and sow some mesclun mix inside in a cut off milk jug, and a bush variety snap bean in another container (both of which are out on the deck enjoying the warm sunshine today.)
Damian either stays on the deck or in his playpen when I am doing yard work. When his playpen is in the yard though, I am finding I need to put a blanket under it to keep him from eating too much dirt. When he becomes determined though, he can push the whole thing off the blanket (and all around the yard in fact) which while frustrating, is extremely cute. I could stake it down I suppose…
…but I would much rather take frequent breaks and sit in there too with a tall glass of lemonade. He even has a little lemonade from time to time. We discuss politics, religion and the flavors of dirt and weeds from around the yard. You know, the usual.
Speaking of weeds, he adores sautéed dandelion greens, and so do I! We made a potato frittata with some this morning, yummy! I will save edible weeds for another post though, the sun is calling and Damian just woke from his nap.
A few weeks ago I received my heirloom seeds from Seed Savers. I also purchased Amish Pie Squash seeds but they were on backorder and now they are sold out! So my pumpkin need will be have to be filled elsewhere. Around May 18th I should be receiving my Seed Savers transplants, which are organic I think. I plan for everything in my garden to be as organic as possible. Here is my list of seeds, transplants as well as seeds I have not purchased or received yet:
Seeds
Transplants
Yet To Come
This is the area of my backyard that is going to becoming the garden, over where those timbers are. The area is south facing and so receives a ton of sunlight throughout the day. I plan on building two 3×8 raised beds for the veggies, which will give me 48 feet square of growing space. The last frost is around May 3rd, so that is my target date for having the beds ready, we’ll see how it all goes. I would imagine in the years to come I will be adding more raised bed. I would love to grow potatoes, beets, broccoli, more kinds of sunflowers, peppers etc. I also am planning an herb garden around the deck but I’ll leave that for another post.
This is the breakdown of the cost so far. I feel it has been reasonable (and the first year start up is always most expensive:)
Here is a little side request to the list above - if any of the local people who read my blog happen to have any of the tools I need (or ones you feel would benefit the garden) laying around, and they are in working condition, I would love to give them a good home. I would be more than happy to share some of my seeds with you in return, or my crop! (If you are not local and still want to help, you can check out our wishlist.) Oh, and books! I am learning almost everything online, so I would be grateful for any secondhand books, or links to wonderful gardening resources online.
So this is as far as I am in the planning phase, I am currently looking up pollinators and attracting them. (FYI mason bees are so fascinating!) I am curious to hear other people’s low cost suggestions as well as any tidbits of advice they might have. It feels good to be outside working on a project like this. Gardening puts me in such a spiritual mood. I cannot think of many things that make me feel more connected to the spirit of the Earth then by getting my hands dirty.
A juniper berry is the female seed cone produced by the various species of junipers. It is not a true berry but a cone with merged scales giving it a berry-like appearance.
(With the changing seasons flowers are not in abundance anymore, but their fruits are. Perhaps I should have fruit or foliage Fridays, in keeping with the alliteration.)
