Day 2 - It was cold but ok to work

I'm calling Saturday Day 2 ... but it's really Day 3 as I did get over to the garden on Mother's Day but because I had to walk down since the gates were locked so what I was able to carry in was limited and so I spent most of my time looking and scribbling notes and calculating, I just grabbed up some violets and that was about it.

I got quite a little haul out of the garden today.

I almost totally forgot about the wild leeks that Vanessa, a model for the Portrait at year-end, gave me two years ago - until I saw the big one amongst all the other guys! What a nice recollection. I want to remember to let her know how well they did - albeit two years later - for sure - she will understand how I missed them last year since I am a new gardener. I started transplanting the alliums into an area along the northeast fence at the left of the garden but they continue to pop up inside the tomato patches and so yesterday I put the trowel in deep beside them and teased as many up as I could and scooted them over to where they needed to be (some came home with me and are all clean and chillin' in water)!

I am noticing from last years blog that I am a little behind (and as we all know here in Toronto the weather is a little ahead of itself so this isn't a great combo) and this all means I need to up my game a little. That said though, I think I've learned a little bit over two years (translation: I think I may have whittled a few extra days off by tricking my weeds with a layer of leaves and weaseled in a couple of days ahead on my schedule as a result. I sure yanked some HUGE weeds this year (maybe a combination of amending the soil with leaves and being later to get to the garden) and laid them in the pathways which I now remember I figured out last year was a really good (might I even say geniusly brilliant) idea because it dried them out and at the same it killed the weeds on the path! Laying the leaves over 3/4 of the allotment as a test proved that it really worked and I am going to want to bring even more leaves in and I'll wet them and add another on top of that layer and wet them again so weeds are really given a good set back at this time next year. I suppose if there are enough flattened leaves I can just dig down and put my plants in and let them continue to do their thing!

I didn't realize gardening was going to be so intellectual. Dang!

I'm being patient but it's difficult with potatoes because they've let me down two years running already!

The peas are coming along ... again the potatoes aren't really doing anything ... I didn't get a good shot of the berry bushes but the tayberries and last years raspberry transplants are putting out leaves and the other two are just like two dead sticks sticking out of the ground (the tayberry is growing some whiskery ball things that might possibly be berries? (I will find out and report back!)



Here's the little patch I amended yesterday with a bag of sheepoop that sat around all last summer gathering worms and bugs inside it YUK-O (but I imagine it's even better than upon purchase) and planted two rows of beets in after going at the rest of the garden yanking big weeds from wherever I saw them for 3-1/2 solid hours. As I said - it was a cool day. When I stopped for a drink of carrot juice the sweat on my back almost froze so I had to get right back at it to get warmed back up!

Oh and check out the new fedora ... I'm thinkin' "too kool for skool' ME!