Tuesday, March 31, 2020

March's Garden (2020)


March has been rainy, miserable, gloomy and depressing - just like my mood. We watched the weather report constantly looking for a dry moment. In desperation, I hand-cleared the raised areas beside the shed (in the rain) and planted some lettuce. At least something got planted.

The stuff piled up and sticking out from behind the shed are the pieces from Reese's aquaponics greenhouse.  He will probably never live here again so we have disassembled it and have it almost ready to move.  I refuse to let his dream of owning his own aquaponics business die.  We have it ready so he can set it up again someday when the time is right.


It has been a relief to be able to harvest fresh salads and not visit the grocery store. The Chinese Coronavirus has arrived in my neighborhood and it has affected my family and friends. Bill, Dustin, and I saw the trainwreck coming, self-isolated early and have not had any problems.


This row is all that is left from the first hoop house.  Even though the sun hasn't shone, it has been warm enough to remove the covers.  Most of the winter vegetables are gone but what is left has thankfully burst to life.  There has been food for us to eat, not all we wanted, but enough since we are not wasting a single leaf.


Sugar Beets and Afina Cutting Celery were small plants last fall crowded under the fast-growing vegetables but now there is room for them to grow.


Below is what is left of the second hoop house: garlic, onions, Scarlet Kale and an ample supply of weeds.  All will be harvested soon so there is no need to waste my time weeding...it's not like we are stuck at home with anywhere fun to go.



The middle of the garden is still under leaves and will be planted soon.


Three days ago we had a day and a half without rain. Bill rushed out and managed to plow part of the garden (before the rain returned that night.) There was enough time to broadcast seeds from my bag of assorted unknowns.


This was the first time lettuce plants have survived all the way through the winter under a hoop house.  I discovered the secret - planting extra.


When we dismantled the greenhouse, we moved its railroad ties to the back corner of the garden to create a large mulch pile.  My property is full of huge boulders and there is an odd-shaped rock in the back corner of the garden.  It has kept us from plowing or mowing this area so it often grows into a wild mess.  The left side has ditch daylilies and the far right has dormant Four O'Clocks.


The daylilies are sprouting.


We named the rock "the dinosaur bone" because it looks just like a fossilized bone.  Doesn't everybody name the rocks in their yard?


At present, everything here is uncertain. As the death angel passes over we are sheltering in place and preparing for the days of darkness ahead.  Plans are to make the garden larger since we don't know how many friends, family members, and neighbors we might be feeding. Forgive me for not posting more often, but my heart is just too heavy.

Last Month's February's Garden (2020)
Last Year's March Garden (2019)
March's Garden (2018)
March's Garden (2017)
Aquaponics Dreams
Through the Garden Gate

Sunday, March 15, 2020

Today's Blooms, March 15, 2020


March has been its usual rainy, cool, and gloomy self - a perfect environment for the Chinese Wuhan Coronaviruses to grow and spread.  However, in spite of the depressing weather, my spring flowers have faithfully sprouted and bloomed.  How they know the date on the calendar from deep inside the dark earth is beyond my simple understanding.





The pansies Reese sent me last year which he grew at his greenhouse job in North Carolina have come alive and are enjoying what little bit of sunshine peeks behind the clouds.


He has generously shipped me more flowers (he's so sweet).  They do look a bit rough but so would you if you were crammed into a dark, tiny box (to save postage) and shipped from North Carolina to Tennessee.  If the sun ever decides to shine again, they will recover.


The drab weather has even made Scooter ornery.  When asked to pose for a picture in the flower bed walkway in front of a lovely blooming weed, he refused to cooperate.

"Nope.  Not opening my eyes and smiling - life is too depressing."


"Please Scooter, pretty please, smile for the camera."


"O.k., Mom, I will cooperate as long as you don't take a silly picture of me with weeds sprouting out of the top of my head!"


As for flower bed plans and dreams for this summer, nothing much will happen; our efforts will be directed toward the vegetable garden. We are hunkering down waiting for the Chinese Wuhan Coronavirus bioweapon to arrive.  Bill works from home on his computer.  Mom's assisted living facility is in lockdown - no person or package in or out.  We appreciate their abundance of caution.  As soon as we can plow, the vegetable garden will be planted, perhaps doubled and life here at home will go on as normal, but not really.  Will life ever really be normal again?


Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you;
hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by...

Isaiah: 2:20 ESV

A Stranger Arrives Home (The story of Reese's exciting job)