Garden 2013

This year's summer garden is now in the soil.  I had the seeds on hand and got tomato and herb plants on Saturday, with plans to plant on Sunday.  The forecast for Sunday called for early morning rain and then clouds the rest of the day.  It's an old gardeners' tale that you should plant on a cloudy day and so I was satisfied that conditions were nearly perfect.  I awoke on Sunday to rain and cool temperatures.  I figured that I'd wait until late morning for the rain to stop.  At 10 am, even as the Weather Channel assured me there was zero chance of continued precipitation, a light rain kept falling.  I wanted to plant anyway and threw caution to the wind, planting as the Spring rain fell around me.  Now the job is done and I couldn't be happier.

One of the reasons I garden is that it reminds me to be patient; to understand that some things take time and are well-worth the wait.  A summer garden is the perfect example of that lesson and I enjoy the process of getting one in the ground. 

 Every January the seed catalogs arrive and I start thinking about what I will plant.  This year, I knew that I would have some extra space in my garden; the result of a new fence and the removal of loads of ivy.  That meant that I could plant even more vegetables and flowers.  There are some things that I always plant: tomatoes, herbs, zinnias, onions, and carrots are usually somewhere in my garden.  They are present this year, of course.  I always try a few new things (or things I haven't planted in a while).  This year, that includes spaghetti squash, which I've never planted.  I also planted two types of cucumbers and both green peas and sugar snap peas.  All of them have been part of my garden in previous seasons and are getting another trial this year.

I'll be watching closely over the next 10 days as the seeds begin to germinate.  Next comes the weeding and the mulching.  A garden in process is a daily reminder of the virtue of patience.  I'm looking forward to this summer's lessons.