Fickle Time of Year

The temperature is bouncing all over the place. Will it rain or just sprinkle? Is the ground frozen or soggy? The temperature is nice, but the wind is chilly? Nature can't make up its mind. Spring is fighting with winter and is about to win out. Hooray for the gardener and outdoor enthusiast.

On those rainy cold days that seem to keep visiting me, I settle down to study my plant inventory and map out just a few new ideas for the garden. On this particular occasion, I contemplated a more multi-use garden. Perhaps, a raised bed area in one quadrant with a well defined low box area in another. There must be room for long rows of corn and some open area for the squash and pumpkins. Maybe add some small defined box areas for garlic, rosemary, lemon mint or a simple salad mix. Of course the trellis will have climbing peas in spring followed by beans in the summer. Adding a touch of color and some bug deterrent, I envision a beautiful row of marigolds around the outside edge of the entire garden.

Hooray for the weatherman! A wonderfully warm day is in store. Don't leave your light jacket on the table. Remember, the weather is fickle . We are sure to need it a few more times before warm weather ushers in the new season. Off I go. Out to the garden area. Fresh woodchips for the path is on the to do list today. Oh how marvelously beautiful the paths look with the freshly laid woodchips. Don't tell those pesky weeds, but we laid cardboard underneath all the woodchips so they won't be visiting the walkways. Taking a break from the woodchip moving, we head to the barn. Needing some wood for borders, we begin examining the piles of old barnwood laying around. Picking out a few good looking boards, we head back to the garden. Douglas craftily forms a few defining beds for our onions, beets, turnips and potatoes. Happily smiling about our progress, a break is in store. Lucky for us we have some cool tea in the greenhouse refrigerator.

Visions of fresh vegetables fill my mind of what is to come.