gardening together

lettuce seedlings laid out for planting, mulched cover crops in background

It's been a busy few days here...a visit from Sam's Nana, looking at a dozen or so more houses, and planting the first little space of our community garden plot. Thanks to the rare babysitting support, Denis and I actually got to work on the garden together, which I had schemed as soon as I heard my mom was coming to town. Sure, we had a date-night complete with drinks and dessert out on the town, but it was the date-in-the-dirt that I was really looking forward to.

My former self would have balked at the shortcuts we had to take, and the fact that we purchased our seedlings and compost rather than grow our own...but what can I say? Raising a toddler is my full-time, overtime, all-the-time job now. Until Sam can be trusted not to mess with water timers and dripline, I'm not going to have the time or focus to get perfect soil aggregation and root hair contact, to pick out the nitrogen-robbing straw, and wait for optimum legume nodules. Most people I talk to these days don't even know what all that means! So. Denis and I had exactly 3 non-consecutive hours before dark to do everything from browsing the nursery to cover crop skimming to watering-in, not to mention dealing with pernicious weeds like my old friend bermuda grass. But the little beauties made it in the ground...basil, parsley, cilantro, zucchini, pattypan squash, and two varieties of lettuce. Enjoy your new home little ones! I promise I'll take care of you in between naptime and snacktime.

P.S. Special hello and good wishes to SteveW, L, and sweet little E...we're thinking of you.