Beltane Waxing Flower Moon
Many daffodils bloom outside the writing area. No tulips yet, but they should bloom in the next few days.
Snow peas, sugar peas, garden peas, snap peas all went into the ground this morning. This took a while because there were several steps. First, loosen the soil with a spading fork. Rake smooth. Create a taut twine line marking the location of the trellis. Scratch a half inch to one inch furrow on either side of the twine. Lay down inoculant in the rows. Then, one by one, place the peas. Do this over and over until 4 rows run parallel to each other.
In between the 1st and 2nd rows and the 3rd and 4th rows, reachable with ease from the bed’s edge, white globe turnip went into the same soil. Turnips like pea companions.
Another bed, this one with a nice daisy and a star-gazer lily, got loosened up, too. After a smoothing with the small garden rake, parsnip seeds fluttered down onto the scratched surface, tiny space ships with feathered brown edges and a cockpit containing the parsnip seed. The parsnips, after thinning and trimming, get a mulch and then remain in the ground until next spring, achieving their nutty flavor through hard frosts and a hard winter.
At that point the noon sun had made me hot so I came inside to write, have lunch and take a nap. Later this evening I’ll plant greens, beets and carrots.
One more thought on garage sales. Here in Minnesota, after a hard winter, they are also the equivalent of a social event for post-hibernation bears. Minnesotans love the winter, but during the winter our travels outside of our home usually have a distinct purpose and almost always head away from the house. There are no yard parties in the winter. Well, not many anyhow. Some folks just gotta barbecue.
When the weather warms up, though, lawn mowers come out. Lawn chairs. And, garage sales. Neighbors drop by to say hi, see if you made it through the winter, and coincidentally, to check out your stuff.
and surveillance for pests.
planted carrots and beets I didn’t water them in. Probably should have. The potatoes needed mounding and I discovered that the beets and turnips both benefit from mounding too. If a portion of these tuberous vegetables stick up above ground, they turn green and inedible.