April 20, 2009: It's Not Every Day....

....that I'm utterly exhausted from working outside. But today I am. It's not the everyday chores of gardening, that's always a good kind of tired. It's the grunt work like digging out underground sprinklers and installing new ones (three of them today), filling pots and buckets with potting soil, edging the lawn around the garden, spraying the weeds in the street.

Yes, we have weeds in our street! Actually they are in the parking strip between the street and the curb. I have no idea why this area was never paved, but I have to resort to using Roundup on it several times through the year, or we get tack weeds (goat heads or whatever you want to call them) and other noxious weeds growing there. I've been killing them out for twenty years now, I think I'm fighting a losing battle!

So I'm tired, and stiff and sore. I decided to take a bit of a rest and wander outside with the camera.

I was so happy to see a LOT of bees working the flowering quince! Last year I didn't see any bees around here until September, when I found a few on my squash blossoms.

This is the final spring for the flowering almond. It has lived here for almost 20 years, and is really past its prime. It will have to be removed to make room for a larger garden shed, but maybe I can dig up a few suckers and get another one started.

I know I showed you a picture of the pansies Saturday, but they just look so happy I had to show them to you again.

It was 84F here today, so Annie spent most of her day enjoying the warm sun. This is her favorite spot in the yard. There is a root from the old maple tree sticking out of the ground, and she keeps the grass worn down from laying on it. Poor little thing looks like she's starving, doesn't she?

Look, EG....I planted a tomato in the SWC today, a Volvograd! It's pretty early, but I'll put a milk jug over it at night, and I have three more of this same variety if I happen to lose this one. It was one of my larger ones, but after stripping it down and planting it deep, it looks kind of puny!

I had some "firsts" today!

My first potato broke ground today!

And my first bean!

The first morning glory.

And the first nasturtium. They are germinating much better from seed sown outside than from starting inside. Too bad I just planted all the rest of them inside :-(

Yes, I planted them yesterday, before I spotted the ones growing in the garden. In fact, I started an entire flat of nasturtiums and marigolds inside. I soaked the nasturtium seeds overnight and planted 15 trailing and 39 dwarf varieties, and 18 Crackerjack marigolds.

Yesterday in the garden, I planted one hill each of zucchini, yellow crookneck and Waltham butternut squash, and a hill of small sugar pie pumpkin. Then I planted one container of lemon cucumbers, a double row (7') of pole beans, and some spicy globe basil in the blue planter. I also set out four regular basil plants in the east garden.

Now I'm going to fertilize the roses, cook dinner and clean up the kitchen.

Then I'm going to soak in a hot bubble bath and go to bed early. I deserve it.