the itch

I've got the itch to be in my garden. It's rather overwhelming at times. I honestly could do away with all other necessary activities today and just get out there to have my hands in the dirt. I bought my seed plants yesterday (tomatos, rosemary, basil, cucumbers and peppers).

They are calling to me to plant them.

Unfortunately, the location where I'm going to plant them is currently occupied by two flowering shrubs that we wintered in my vegetable garden (we planted the entire plastic pot and plant into the ground) and since it requires massive muscle strength to remove them, I must be satisfied to thin out the perennials and do some weeding until the weekend when hubby is home and can remove said pots.

Unless I plant the yellow pansies I also bought on sale, in the front...

I'm pretty happy with the progress we've been making outside. We finally demolished the eyesore of a fire oven that we had (it did not work and was dead center in the yard).

We created a new fire pit in the back corner (well, we started to dig the hole and cut down two plum trees that were in the way - and for you tree lovers out there, rest assured, we Heaslips always plant more trees than we cut down).

I weeded 75% of the veggie garden and beds, and prepped the baskets and flower boxes (even though the May 24 weekend is still weeks away). We cut down a dead tree in front of our shed (we're undecided what kind of tree to replace it with - peabush? flowering pear? lilac standard? - too many choices) I've also bought some dirt (not nearly all of it), and replaced some worn gardening tools.

"Geepa Jim" was a big help and installed my hose hook. He also started the boys sandbox last weekend (this I'm rejoicing over as they kept wanting to "dig like mommy" and would pull up all my plants.

current sandbox "aka" - my raised garden; future sandbox

... I also moved a bunch of misplaced plants and rocks to better locations. Chris gave the yard it's first cut. (as an aside, this led to the cleaning of the garage and the checking and restocking of the camping gear) - I definately must blog about camping in the future.

In the landscaping beds, I get unusually happy looking at the fruits of my labours last fall - the tulips and daffodils are out in full, and the crabapple we planted is just about ready to blossom, and i can see my lilac budding.

Last SummerApril 2010

The sumac, hydrangeas and rosebushes wintered really well too. The perennials need some love - some are skinny, some are monsters (peonies, mums, hostas).

These are both peonies, the green one I planted, thinking it was dead but what the heck, and it came back - the purple one showed up this spring, after I cut down another bush in its place last fall (weird). The raspberry, strawberries and blue berries seem to be doing well too. Probably by next week the ground will be warm enough to plant some more - even though i just read that I can plant my spinach and lettuce now (and every two weeks until the fall - land sakes!)

There is something about being out there that just meets a need that I didn't even know was there - like deep inside of me. I am very relaxed in the garden - it's very calming for me, and I feel very fulfilled when i can cook or can the harvest I grow. Maybe it's because I have a "farming gene" - my Papoo (grandpa) was a farmer in Greece. My dad, he was an avid gardener too. I hadn't discovered just how much joy and pleasure it brings until the last 2 years in having a veggie garden...too bad I discovered it so late, I'm sure we would have shared many talks about it.

Now that I think about it, Chris and I were always happiest working on our gardens at the other two houses too. Not veggies but the flowers and landscaping. Maybe it has to do with his getting so many awesome plants from work for pennies or free. A definite perk of the job...

Anyways, as much as I've gotten done, there is so much more to do and since I'm sure there will be posts to come on the subject of my garden, i should really get out there and do some more! :)