Friday, June 03, 2022

Friday! Again. Just in time.

Just when one thinks they cannot survive another day...Friday arrives, the week is over, rests is in sight. 

Happy Birthday to Krista! 

Stacia and I were discussing one of those very raw and difficult passages in Genesis when something new took place. Keep in mind twice a week I am in this cafe having Breakfast and Bible study. Our waitress told us she'd like to join our study. She went on to say she was going to talk to her mom about the two of them doing what we do. She said our study seemed interesting. I told her NO, start with something other than the Old Testament. LOL  I told her we'd done the New Testament in 2021. 

We stopped at Freddies on the way home to rectify my repeated error of buying fabric conditioner instead of detergent. LOL  We also stopped at BreZaak's. I picked out some summer outfits out a week ago for them and they have been riding in my car waiting for a chance to drop in. It all started with the cute overalls for Annie...and I couldn't get Annie something without getting the others something. I did skip JoJo as I didn't think he'd care. 

📷by Bre Mission Accomplished - they liked them. 

Look - apple blossoms have joined the cherry blossoms! Maybe we'll get a few apples this year. 


The wild roses are blooming, too! 

About a month ago I made the comment I disliked gardening, and Allie questioned me. She was sure I loved it because I did it, because Michael keeps making and buying greenhouses....When we moved here five years ago I'd not often had a garden - we moved before the habit could take root in those years. I discovered gardens are a LOT of work and there were other things I'd rather do in the summer.  But we have a big space...and if we don't do something with it, it reverts back to a wild jungle of invasive weeds.  Two years ago Dad had surgery and when he came home he needed much more supervision. I discovered having a garden allows me to get outside daily...even when I can't get out for hikes, water play etc.  We've been using Stacia's suggestion of an hour a day together in the garden for a month...and I must say I LOVE gardening when we do it together. I'm not sure if I love gardening or if I love the hour in the garden with Stacia and Allie as her schedule allows. I told Stacia I may be starting to love gardening or maybe it's just the time together. She agreed.  

Today we began to tackle the parts of the garden that are not covered with raised beds. 

People kept telling me to use black plastic to keep the weeds at bay. I don't love doing this. It KILLS everything under it - to include worms....I prefer using cardboard or paper as it will break down and feed the worms and soil BUT,  I can't keep up with the weeds....and so Yes, I HAVE used LOTS of black plastic, and carpet, boxes, roofing tile, paper....anything for a weed barrier...look how well it works. ::snort:: After an hour the above had morphed into this.  We will  plant squash here...the dirt  under the back row of tires won't grow a thing...not even zucchini. Eventually, I'd like to see it terraced with raised beds. The tires are holding the plastic in place. Those little garden clips did not stand up to our wind, so I have rocks, bricks, tree branches and tires throughout my garden. This year we'll probably just keep the weeds at bay and not place a bed back there until we have time to terrace. 

When we have the garden lay out set...I would like to put black plastic on the WALKWAYS between the beds and top that with wood chips.  For now, I laid down plastic here in hopes of killing some weeds while we continue to work on the growing spaces. I'll get back to weeding around the beds again when we have the rest of it under control. 

I'd guess about 1/3 of our growing space is now whipped into shape. LOL  This spot behind the garden house and on up past that big bush in the background and over is "garden" space. Much of that space has carpet under it....carpet has not proven to be effective long term. LOL 


 
Stacia commented on the beauty of the dandelions in the garden. I took a picture as they will soon be gone. If only flowers would grow this fast. 


We pulled a lot of weeds in an hour. I think we're getting good at this. LOL 

I stayed out after the hour to water, transplant some petunias to hanging baskets and generally putter around the place. I checked for sprouts in the beds we seeded on Monday, 4 days ago. The radishes were up almost immediately. Lettuce and the first beets are popping through. These are the swirly, candy cane beet...the Red Ruby Queen doesn't have any sprouts at this point. The packets says 7 - 14 days....so this is hopeful on day 4.  The carrots are still not showing. 

The lettuce planted 2 weeks ago is starting to look like honest to lettuce. I will eat some as baby greens and let some grow into heads. 

Allie and Nolan were both off work today. Nolan spent the entire day in his room finishing up another class - 3 more credits. We've been missing Allie, our unofficial plan was to hit the Friday Fling. It began to rain just as we were ready to leave...the girls suggested Michael's instead. Michael asked me to stop at the feed store for chick grit (which they still don't have). We left to run those two errands. 

Allie drove us home as I was simply too tired to drive. I went to bed and took a lovely nap while Michael grilled steaks and steamed artichokes which they all ate. When one is too tired to eat, one should sleep. 

GG, the four Gherkins and I watched another episode of Obi Wan Kenobi. Michael is a purist. He didn't care for the new Star Trek and he's not going to get into this either. LOL 

We seem to congregate in the entry way. WHY? GG went to bed. Alex was playing video games. We ended up visiting in the entry way. From the top behind the rail, Stacia, Nolan on the stairs, Allie, Michael...I could probably write a book, "Wit and Wisdom from the Entry," based on our shared wit and wisdom. 

It's been a good day. No, I will not always write copiously about the garden, but this is what we do this time of the year.  I am EXCITED I've managed to blog through May and June. We often go silent in the summer.  

Once the garden is in, maybe we'll just need an hour a few times a week and we can make it to the lakes and trails.