Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Ground Report: Still Frozen

Okay, I need to do a little catching up here.  Let's begin.

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I took my trusty little spading fork out into the yard and garden this morning to see if the ground was still frozen.  It isn't in the raised beds . . . at least not the top 6" or so.  But it may well still be down deeper than that.

It is frozen in the flower beds on three sides of our deck.  One of our first projects this spring is to tear off our south-facing deck and replace it with new construction, changing the configuration of it slightly.

The flower beds on the three sides of the deck are being changed.  We're eliminating two of them and in the case of the front, south-facing one, making it larger.  This includes taking out two, maybe three, trees.  (Don't worry; it's all good.)  The 6" x 6" timbers that have formed the delineation of these beds are nearing 20 years old and are in sad shape.  I need to remove them and the dirt in the beds before deck deconstruction starts.


When I got my spading fork (just barely) underneath this section, the 6" x 6" splintered and broke apart.


The soil in this area closer to the house and a little more protected was thawed enough that I could loosen the end of this long piece of wooden border.  But the whole task will be much easier if I just exercise a little patience (of which my husband declares I have none) and wait for more thawing of the earth.


This section of our garden, at the bottom of a southern slope and closest to the woods line on two sides, is always the last area to lose its snow cover.  It may be hard to see because of the monochromatic (otherwise referred to as "blah") coloring, but the left two rows of blueberry bushes are free of snow, but the third one on the right is not.  Beyond the blueberries are the three rows of raspberries still mostly freezing their tootsies in snow.

It's frequently well into May before we experience any kind of spring weather so I'm just being overly antsy this year to get outside and start on the list of projects.  Patience, Mama Pea, patience. 

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So, now here is the catching up part of this post.  I wrote the above post yesterday, took the pictures yesterday, while planning to post it this morning.  Which I obviously have.

But what happened overnight?  What scene greeted us upon arising this morning that dramatically changed things?  A scene straight out of Dr. Zhivago.  A heavy covering of that-white-stuff-that-shall-remain-nameless clinging to every twig and branch, covering all ground surfaces and making me so mad I'm refusing to take a picture to illustrate how beautiful it is.  I love snow.  I really do.  But not now.  Now I want sunshine, bare ground, warmth and something, anything, with green coloring out there.  Give it up, Old Man Winter.  You're over-staying your welcome.

19 comments:

Lisa B said...

What is this thing you call patience my friend? I know not of what you speak.
I lack in that department too. I feel if I don't start outside on the 1st barely warm day the next day will be 100* and I'm spent energy wise.

Susan said...

I like to think that I grow more patient as I grow older. I'd like to think that, but it would be a bald-faced lie. The need to get outside and DO something is just too much to bear, this time of year. Especially when one gets a nasty little surprise overnight. No snowing here, but sleet this morning. I hate noisy rain!

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Oh my goodness, I sure hope the white stuff disappears soon. I would crawl in bed if it snowed here in April.

Mama Pea said...

Lisa - I've learned from blogging and reading the blogs of other folks that we all face some real disadvantages related to the area where we live! I complain about having no spring here, but bloggers in the south complain of the very same thing. Before they get any spring, the temp shoots up to unbearable and they're in full-blown, hot, hot summer!

Mama Pea said...

Susan - Yep, and we're forecast a "wintry mix" or "rain/sleet" for the next couple of days. Boooo! (There will be running barefoot across the grass [what grass?] around here soon!)

Mama Pea said...

Kristina - Yippee, the snow did melt today. Now if I can just make it through the next couple of days of "wintry mix," I'll be fine. Maybe. ;o}

Mark said...

Bummer on the snow! We're pretty much thawed here and are expecting the seasons first "Thunderstorms likely tomorrow - some may be severe with strong winds and damaging hail. Spotter activation is possible Thursday afternoon." Given the choice I'll take the boomers this time of year.

Sandy Livesay said...

Mama Pea,

It's hard to be patient when you have blogger friends planting seeds and seedlings out in their gardens.

I've been listening to the national weather forecast and local forecast the entire day. I heard about the snow you received, I'll trade you if you would like. We had tornado warnings all day. More warnings tomorrow!!!

You've made plans to change up your flower beds around your deck. The plans sound nice. You're making one larger flower bed....instead of three. What type of flower or plants will you be planting in your bed this season?

Have a great evening, hugs to you and your husband.
Sandy
P.S. I'm sending sun your way, this will melt that white powder :-)

Sparkless said...

We haven't had snow on the ground for a couple of months now. You would think that would be fantastic but I find the dreary brown of everything makes me depressed. At least snow is bright and pretty. This early spring isn't fooling the trees and plants. They still need a certain number of hours of daylight before they are going to risk putting out a slender green slip or leaf. So I'm stuck in brownsville and you are in eternal winter. The grass is not always green cause this year no one has green grass!

Sparkless said...

Meant to put the grass is not always greener not green.

Lisa said...

And I was thinking you'd be telling us you'd squeezed some plants out there in your 'early' spring. What a surprise ending! Um, so I guess this isn't a good time to tell you I planted a bunch of seeds the other day in the middle of the rain.... with rain expected for the next 3 times.... specifically to get them in before the soaker time.... and the sun immediately came out, temps soared and no rain the next, nor the next day is now forecast. Figures. Mother Nature. See, that's what you're dealing with too.... just in a different way?! :)

Lisa said...

3 days... not 3 times.... haven't had enough coffee yet ..... Have a good Day Mama Pea!

Mama Pea said...

Mark - Yes, we're hoping for some rain (without the sleet/hail/snow/whatever) one of these days, too. It will help the ground thaw deep down. Thunder boomers are okay for you, but stay away from anything "tornado-ish!"

Mama Pea said...

Sandy - Even the tornado warnings give me shivers, let alone a tornado itself! Stay safe and chase all of them away from you, please!

The main aim of the new larger "flower" bed is to plant some nut trees and permanent shrubbery in it. Then I'll augment it with some bulbs and other perennials. It all won't happen this year (budget, you know . . . sigh) but that's the plan.

Many thanks for sending sun our way. I think it must have made a stop somewhere in Iowa to visit friends 'cause we still have our gray, possibly wintry mix day today!

Mama Pea said...

Sparkless - Yepper, the dreary brown of everything is getting through to me, too. That's why I'm always eager for snow cover in the fall after the colors of the season have gone. It's a truly blah time for the scene outside. Our snow did melt yesterday, but today we're expecting a rain/snow mix. Even if that happens, the white stuff shouldn't stay around long. I hope. :o]

Mama Pea said...

Lisa - I hear what you're saying! None of us are living in the "perfect" climate, are we? (Would that be boring?) We have to fight to keep our seedlings warm enough and you have to fight to keep them from heat stroke!

(I'm at the bottom of my daily cup of caffeine and I'm probably still making goofy mistakes! Comes with having our brains overloaded with too many thoughts these days!)

Hoping you get the rain you need for your seeds to germinate properly.

Erin said...

I'm back. (she says sheepishly). Miss you so much! I'm knocking the dust off and climbing back on the horse this evening :)

Mark said...

For good or bad, one of my community volunteer things is a SkyWarn Weather Spotter. We do make a point to stay out of the path, but part of our work is to keep an eye on the twisty things.

Mama Pea said...

Erin. Erin? Erin!?? ERIN!!! I can't believe it! I was thinking of you just this very morning (as I do very often). You're going to start blogging again? So, so happy to hear that!!!