normal spring weather

[songbird]

yesterday sunny and windy, but warm enough to get out and get some gardening done.

today snowing.

several years ago (maybe 5 years even) i had this area that was getting full of grasses growing along the edge of the green manure patch. so i dug out what i could and piled it up thinking i would be able to go through the pile and remove the grass roots and then level it all back out.

then life happened and that pile remained until i could get back to it and of course it became a pile of grassy dirt instead.

yesterday i finally got it at least flattened and put back to where it was removed from and also filled in some other holes that were around there that should not have been there (we don't need any more hazards around here than we already have).

while i was back there i also cleaned up a few other things, but the whole garden could use being turned and replanted. i kinda doubt i'll have that much time this season either. there's still clumps of garlic growing through that space i'd like to remove - i try to get rid of a few feet each year so i can eventually have it gone.

then there are three projects sitting there waiting for me to get back to them (from last fall) and of course getting gardens ready for planting for this spring and such. if i'm lucky i get enough breaks in the weather to get a lot done in the spring or fall, but it isn't looking like that will happen this year. the next week is forecast for rain/snow/both pretty much every day.

i was going to get peas planted but i think with the weather forecast being cool and too wet i'll wait a week longer.

it was nice enough last week where i could finish up a patch inside the fence that was left last fall. that puts all of the fenced area back there in good shape for light weeding/planting.

songbird

[Drew Lawson]

I wasn't as productive as you, but compared to last year, yesterday was productive.

Last weekend, I stripped off the deer fence so that I could till all the way to the edge. That included cutting all the stuff incroaching from the neighbor's yard. (I hate wild grape vine.)

Yesterday, the weather allowed tilling. Had to get it done in one day, given the forecast. But this pudgy couch potato managed. Even got the fencing reattached to the posts. (That needs a better concept for the older year that are upcoming.) Hopefully my stamina will improve as the gardening year progresses and the muscles adapt.

Oh! And I got my red currant plants in the ground. Still can't get black currants in Ohio, but I'll be happy with red -- in 2-4 years, given that they are 3" tall.

Today was scattered thunderstorms (and a tornado watch). But in the intervals between downpours I managed to get all the piles of brush -- the grape invasions, the excess redbuds, and the attempted pawpaw expansion -- into the truck. Back and knees permitting, after work tomorrow I'll drop them off at the county yard waste site, and load my first truckful of mulch for the year. The tilled garden takes about 12 trips to mulch. Last year I went ahead and planted before it was all mulched, the weeds got ahead, and I never got things contained.

Hoping to avoid that this year.

The way spring is tending around here, I think I've already missed the window for peas. I intended to till at the beginning of March, but wasn't dedicated enough. If I had, peas would be in the ground. Maybe next year. If so, sugar peas are on the menu.

[songbird]

yeah, wild grape vines can take down a fence. i finally had enough of it last year along one area and spent a lot of time clearing it along one half of the bank, but could not get the rest done in time. i've also cleared most of it out of the north hedge but it looks like i missed a vine i'll have to go back in there. i have to check that hedge once in a while for poison ivy too so...

i'm hoping it won't be coming back this year or that i can get back along those areas to remove any new vines that try to show up.

that's how it goes for me as long as i don't injure myself or make current issues worse. at the moment it's been rain/rain/rain so not much is getting done outside other than once in a while plinking at the last three grackles that are being more persistent than the rest (which seem to have gotten the message and gone elsewhere to nest).

we had a friend who made jelly out of them and it was ok, but i've never grown them myself. if i ever get the north hedge properly fixed my plan would be to put a decent fence along there and then put in a line of blueberries because those are so good to have fresh.

cardboard can do in a pinch.

rain and cold still in the forecast so i'll be waiting for a bit more warmth and less rain... the clay is a mess if it gets this much rain and i'm better off not trying to do much.

songbird