Rainy Blessings

Oh, life is good in the garden! We have been receiving some nice rain over the course of the last couple days.  And we have been fortunate enough to not have any of the severe storms and possible tornadoes that they were predicting. 

Now the weeds will be easier to pull out of the ground in anticipation of planting the more sensitive plants. Even though this spring has been extremely mild, I am not going to put things like tomatoes and peppers into the garden until after Mother's Day, or maybe even mid-May, as that is our latest frost date. They are doing well inside the house, and should be ready to go into their garden home by then. Call me chicken for not taking the chance, or call me a true Minnesotan, I just don't want the plants that I nurtured so long to be damaged by my own foolishness.

Weedy Boulevard

I just had to put up a picture of the pathetic boulevard strip.  So sad.  I'll have to do something to it, just not quite sure what that will be yet....

Long Weekend

Who doesn't love a long weekend? The weeds in my flowerbeds for one! Give me a little extra time to spend outdoors and I will make their lives short-lived.

That said, there are many weeds that were given a reprieve this weekend, too. We had a gentle rainfall for much of the day on Saturday, so I stayed in. I know there are some die-hard folks out there who will go out and garden no matter the weather. My neighbor is - she jokes frequently about not being smart enough to come in out of the rain. I have even caught her watering plants in the rain! I may have considered going out on Saturday if we had not had such an early spring this year. If I am itching to get out and dig in the dirt, a little sprinkle will not stop me!

I did manage to get the front flower beds weeded and free of debris. Last fall, I dug up and divided the hosta that have been growing out there for years, they were past due for a clearing out. I gave away about 10 pots of hosta, and started a ring around the tree on the boulevard with 6 more. They are coming up gangbusters right now! I also dug up the sedum that was in the front - I couldn't stand it anymore! It would always fall down when it started to bloom, regardless of how big or small it was. So I gave those away, too. Now I have some lovely empty spots that I can fill with new and interesting plants! My poor husband bemoans this time of year, as I am always coming home with more plants to put in the ground. But I love it. Such simple joy.

When I first moved here 5 1/2 years ago, I put a brick border around the flower beds. Not all at once, it did take me a few months (okay, a couple years) but it was a nice way to separate the lawn and the beds. Now I am playing around with that in the front of the house, adjusting it and adding to it. I put in a row of hosta on both sides of the sidewalk, and need to put in the brick along those sides, as the lawn keeps trying to creep back in. And I am seriously tempted to tear up the weed infestation that the boulevard strip has become, and put in flowers and other plants. We will see just how crazy I get this year with all of the weeding and re-arranging. I may just tear it up and put down grass seed and make it pretty again.

Oh! And the yard needs to be mowed again.

The Golden Hour

I normally do not consider myself to be much of a wimp. My brother and I came from sturdy Swedish peoples, who eventually made Minnesota home. We are tough and hardworking. We are loyal. We don't talk a lot about our feelings. We don't complain about the work of the day, we get it done and move on to the next task.

Apparently, this description applies to everyone but me.  I want to whine about mowing the lawn last night. The bugs were really bad! The lawnmower made me smell like exhaust. I was sore last night, and stiff this morning when I got up. I sneezed - A LOT! And I got sweaty.

And I loved every single second of it.

This isn't my golden hour, but it sure is pretty.
Image Credit Flickr User Axel-D

I mowed long, straight lines in the grass. I mulched up old leaves from last fall. I noticed the places that I will need to give a little extra attention to - a little more water from the rain barrel, or a bit of over-seeding to bring it back up to snuff. The wonderful sweet smell of freshly cut grass. The droning noise of the mower which seems to ease my monkey-brain into dropping the stresses of the day, a meditation of sorts. And knowing that I can indulge myself when it is done - a tall, cool drink in the golden hour, enjoying the silence of my lovely backyard. Planning my garden.

Lawn Mowing Anticipation

As it is now April, I believe that I will try to start the lawnmower this evening and get a little work done on the yard. It rained last night - a big rumble-y storm, with the kind of lightning that reminds me of old-fashioned flash bulbs. And today is supposed to be in the 60s (F) and sunny.

I can hear the grass growing from here.

The Strangest Spring Ever

You can ask just about anyone in central Minnesota about this past March, and they will all tell you the same thing.  This is the strangest early spring that we have experienced.  According to the climatologists, it was the warmest March in over 100 years.  All of the plants are coming up much earlier than usual, and I am itching to get new plants and veggies into the garden.  But this is Minnesota, and I have a pretty strong feeling that Mother Nature will kick us in the shins if we get too uppity and plant before mid-May.

So what is a girl to do? I have pulled all the dead growth from around my plants and flowers, raked leaves, pulled those pesky weeds that come back no matter how thoroughly I remove them.  I have trimmed the lowest branches of the spirea that grow near the back porch (with the mild winter, the bunnies didn't do it for me) and tied up the rose bush to make it easier to trim over the summer. I am putting the early cold crops in the garden, lettuce, radishes, etc, even though it really isn't cold. All of the tomatoes, herbs and pepper seeds have been started indoors in anticipation of sun-warmed soil.

But out of sheer contrary-ness, I refused to start my lawnmower before April.

I am sure that I will pay for that. The grass is now REALLY long in some places, and full of all the juicy-deliciousness that spring grass holds. I will have green shoes and socks when I do get out to mow. But that isn't really isn't too high a price to pay for such a strange March, is it?