It has been raining steadily, not hard but a gentle rain which is perfect for soaking in, all day today. More of the same is forecast for tomorrow and Monday.
I think I can see that the grass has turned a greener color since first thing this morning.
We put on rain gear a couple of hours ago and went to pick up the six new blueberry bushes we ordered.
They look like strong, healthy plants and we're happy to have gotten them. At $11 each, I think they were a good deal considering we didn't have to travel more than a few miles to get them. (Gas has recently jumped to $4.41/gallon up here. Can you believe that? What's it going for in your area?)
Yesterday morning before we started playing in our new dirt, we got one coat of protective finish on the eight new raised bed frames for the garden. Papa Pea is determined to do all he can to insure these frames last as long as they possibly can because replacing them is not one of his most favorite homestead-y tasks. (Please notice Tucker in foreground helping.)
We're painting them inside and out with a tung oil mixture, wanting to get three coats on in total. Right now they're standing out in the rain, but we can tell that even the first coat is doing some good as the rain drops are beading up on the wood rather than sinking in.
Unfortunately, with rain in the offing for a couple more days, this project isn't going to get finished as soon as we had planned. There are some raised beds I can plant in right now, but the eight beds yet to be replaced with these new frames won't be ready for planting until . . . well, until they're ready. Of course, we had planned on having this whole operation done in April of this year, but there was that rasty thing about the tons of snow we had to deal with in April that threw a clinker into our plans.
Today's rainfall has given me an unexpected day inside. Probably a good thing because I seem to have a bit of a pain in my back between my shoulder blades that I suspect has a direct relationship to my carrying of 5-gallon pails full of black dirt yesterday. A little rest will be a good thing. (Just ask Martha. I'm sure she always rests a day after carrying 5-gallon buckets full of dirt.)
Of course, there's plenty to do inside. Unfortunately, the gray, dark, dreariness of the day has taken away all my get-up-and-go. What I feel most like doing is taking a nap. Therefore, I must get up from this chair and M-O-V-E.
Hee-hee. Maybe I'll M-O-V-E into my quilting room!
9 comments:
Are those the real heights of the raised bed? If so, I am so very jealous. Looks like back breaking gardening will be long over with!
Glad you got a day "off" to recoup from playing in the dirt.
All that sitting around waiting for Spring seems like a distant memory already, doesn't it? I've got the busy week ahead--orders coming from all over. And of course, this is the day my neck acts up again. Oy vay!
Pace yourself, dear lady. It's gonna be a busy few weeks.......
I thought gas was bad here at $4.05 . WOW. It's been cold and wind here for the past 5 days. My tomatoes are taking a beating.
Woman! You can't make up for a slow spring all in one day!! I'm interested to see those covers when they are done. Can't get over how high your gas is. I was fussing at $3.85.
Those blueberries look wonderful. Mine are sad, I've replaced 3 this spring and they are so slow to grow. PH is fine so I'm stumped!
DFW - Nope, you don't have to be jealous. My raised beds are set pretty much on ground level. The ones in the picture that we're working on are set up on the new frames for our screened protection for the cabbage moths. (Sure did make them easier to paint though!)
Sue - Boy, I would do a lot more in the garden if our weather would just warm up. I'm hesitant to even get the cool weather crops going in this consistently 40-something weather. The seeds will get chilblains, shrivel up and die!
Yep, these next few weeks are ALWAYS too busy what with trying to get everything in!
Michelle - Oooof! They say wind can be more damaging to plants than having it too cold. I have plastic, foot high hot caps I could loan you. If you were closer. And your plants weren't taller than that.
Katidids - What? WHAT?! I can't get it ALL done in one day??! (We never learn, do we? Or is it just me?)
You shall see the screened protective "cages" this summer in the garden, for sure.
I'm wondering if your climate might be a little warm for blueberries??
Send several gallons of that $3.85 gas our way, will ya?
Oh, I have raised-bed-envy something fierce! And get that short-legged little dog up and crackin', will you? Or is he all tired out from helping already? We had a dry spell, when I cursed the heavens. And now it's coming back to get me. Buckets of rain for four days now. Very, very squishy. Our gas has yoyoed from a low of $3.60, to 3.95, to 3.90. I notice that it goes up every weekend. Greedy buggers.
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