Green green green!

The vegetable garden is ready for some action. It’s nice to have an established garden space because there’s not much to do except till the compost under, create pathways and start planting. The cold crops are in the ground and some have begun to sprout--peas, lettuce, arugula. It’s exciting to see the clematis, columbine, echinacea and lady’s mantle that I planted last year coming back bigger and stronger. I now understand the beauty of a perennial--less work, less of an expense. But I won’t deny myself the pleasure of going to the garden center each year and picking out some annuals to plant. We have created a new flower bed that wraps around the front of the house and I am overwhelmed and excited for the project of figuring out what to plant there. It’s obvious to me that it should be perennials. From where I sit at my computer in my office I can see the 100 tulip and mescari bulbs in full bloom that we put in the ground last fall. It’s astounding that they lie dormant all winter under feet of snow and then burst forth with bright colors in the spring. I’ve been very patient about planting warm weather crops until after the projected danger of frost has past, but oh I can’t wait!

The perfect Sunday.

The perfect Sunday does exist and I would know. It happened to me. Chris and I went to the vintage clothing shop downtown and picked up some new duds. Then off to the hardware store to get some gadgets to rig up the rain barrel. Then back home to play in the garden in the most glorious weather ever! I finally got some things planted--lettuce, arugula, carrots, potatoes, peas, dill and parsley. It’s amazing what a little sunshine and fresh air will do to your mood. In the afternoon I went over to my buddy Josh’s house to help him design his garden space. Then back home to wrap up some yard work and onto dinner. Josh came over and we grilled up some shrimp, fingerling potatoes and asparagus. I went to bed high on my Sunday.

Lucky me!

Oh, lucky me for having such amazing friends! Last Friday night Chris and I were invited to Rita’s house for a Moroccan feast. Since it was the most amazing weather, Rita set up the appetizers in her backyard--olives, pistachios, dates, crystallized ginger and a variety of delicious cheeses. We drank Michael’s perfectly made Manhattans in the cool spring air. After the sun went down it became a bit chilly so we went inside for a lavish dinner. Michael had prepared a Moroccan vegetable tagine, couscous with raisins, lamb meatballs with raita and flatbread. It was sooo delicious! To top it all off, after dinner we had some good laughs playing Cranium.

Garden mania

We need a pickup truck. They make life easier, especially in the spring when we could use it to haul compost, mulch and a garden tiller. So the beginning part of the garden prep process always presents us with a dilemma. We still haven’t tilled our garden space and my hope is that this will be happening tomorrow. I plan to have all of my cool weather crops planted by Friday. Yesterday I went to Sunrise Garden Center to look around and get inspired. I love the way that I feel when I’m there. My senses are excited by the smells of spring, the little seedlings popping up in their trays, the possibility of a purchase around every corner. The last frost date is set for May 1st so I didn’t buy anything but my money was definitely burning a hole in my pocket. I can wait a few more weeks right?

This is everything that I will start from seed.

Not a whole lot going on in the garden.

Our mountain of black gold that Michael Crouch so kindly brought to us.

Our beautiful tulip magnolia in full bloom.