Never A Dull Moment

Memorial Day Weekend. This phrase conjures images of grill-outs, sunny afternoons in hammocks with gin lemonade, and general recreational bliss. Unless you’re farming. Then, it’s time to plant.

Tomatoes and other nightshades are transplanted, and cucurbits are sown, along with beans and corn all at the same time. This weekend coincides with our last frost date around here, and by then, the tomato clones are threatening mutiny in  the greenhouse anyway, so all systems are GO!!!

That means, at least around here, two solid weeks of being completely at the mercy of the garden. We use a great deal of grass mulch on our garden, and as such, mow a great deal of land. Paths are cut through the pastures for camping, (we always have friends sleeping in campers or tents periodically through the season) and the yards and orchards provide enough mulch to serve as much needed weed control when we set plants in the ground. Provided it isn’t raining. No mowing when it’s raining. No tilling, no working in the garden… just growing grass…

Nature is a fickle thing. 

Also, spring is when babies are born. Rabbits, goats, chickens, guineas, turkeys, ducks and pigs all start demanding unexpected changes in schedule when spring does what it does, and it really is a glorious chaos. Time becomes a blur often, and it’s hard to eke out enough to sit down for half an hour and even begin to relax, let alone reflect on the day. 

But this, too, shall pass.