Garden Days

Today is deliciously sunny. The happy heartstrings are humming. I got out in the garden and dug up some dirt and chrysali and blackberry shoots (darn those things!). All my planning back in February has led me to (perhaps) a less than stellar year. I ordered a bunch of things from Burpee with visions of a garden worthy of a former generation. Alas. They sent things out of order, despite their assurances that they would get such things right. I got the strawberries and onions first. That was the first part of March. I planted the onions right away and while they aren't dead, they look a little worse for the wear since they have been snowed on at least 4 times and have been through 2 hail storms. I just planted the strawberries today. (Shhhh.... I made Dan pull up some bushes by the house with thoughts of planting the berries there. I later realized there was no sun in that locale. I've got to hurry and decide what to do with that spot now, before Dan realizes I made him work for nothing.) I hope the near-moldy appearance of the roots isn't a bad thing. Four of my 6 tomatoes made it into the ground today. Again, they were sent too early and two succombed to three weeks of my tender loving care. My peas are just coming up-- thank goodness the pea pole is ready! There is one lone bean raising its head above the dirt in one box. There's a jumble of little green things in the other box. I really suspect that Alison has something to do with the jumble. I planted everything in straight rows. She often comes in with dirty little paws and there are signs of stirring in the garden box. It could be the gargantuon racoons, but I think this particular pest has blonde curls and a lisp.
Unfortunately, I never got all of the seeds I ordered, so there was no way to make my own starts. Oh, well. Hopefully they will get here before next February so I can have them for 2010.
I love gardening. I wish I was better at it. I wish I was dedicated enough and made the time to get out and have one of those gorgeous gardens our grandparents had. I'm simply not an early riser and oh yeah.... I'm lazy.