April Garden Update

I know, I know.  It's April.  In Nebraska.  What sort of update can I possibly have?  Well, let me tell you that I managed to do some things outside today and I'm pretty happy about it.  It wasn't what I'd call a gorgeous spring day. But, it was rather pleasant for most of the afternoon.

I planted some stuff today: 

• Peas (Sugar Snap).  
• Carrots (Nantes...something).  
• Beets (Detroit Dark Red...I wanted Bull's Blood but I couldn't find any seed) 
• Swiss chard (Bright Lights) 
• Leaf lettuce (Black Seeded Simpson) 
• Radishes (Giant Globe...mostly because they grow quickly and give some speedy gardening gratification) 

If I hadn't left my camera in the city when I came home yesterday, I'd have some pictures of the seeds being planted or something.


But I don't.  I might even have uploaded a nice picture of my rhododendron that looks fantastic already this year. 

Rats.

I also raked and raked and raked leaves.  I raked until my shoulder and the wind decided I shouldn't rake anymore and then I called for a cease-rake and put it all away.  Three huge bags went into the big pile o' bags in the back garden.

Mulch and compost in potentia.

Actually, it was no mean feat this leaf gathering.  After the spate of wet snow we had earlier this week, all those leaves were wet enough to clog up the mower chute and some of the piles were still frozen in places.  But that's okay.  They'll rot a little faster with some moisture in those bags.

I also started some marigold seeds and some more hot peppers (okay, admittedly that was last week, but it's too late to do a March garden update).  The first batch of pepper seeds I planted didn't germinate.  Every year it seems there is one thing or another that just won't grow for me.  Last year it was beans.  This year it seems it could be peppers.  At least I could go buy pepper seedlings if I wanted to.

The tomatoes I started a couple weeks ago haven't sprouted yet either.  The sad thing is I will have roughly 5,000,000 volunteer tomatoes in the garden once spring is well and truly underway.  I'll be uprooting and discarding them all summer long.

I also uprooted and transplanted, to pots this time, a fair whack of yarrow plants.  They didn't really seem to actually be rooted to anything.  They were more or less just sitting on top of the soil like they knew I was coming to take them away and they wanted to be ready.  I can't begin to fool myself into thinking that I got all of them and that bed will be yarrow-free anytime soon. 

Some people have complained to me that mint is the most invasive and difficult to eradicate plant they've ever grown.  Clearly they've never grown yarrow.  Or comfrey.  I thought I'd never get it out!  I do wish comfrey was more attractive.  I hear it has some interesting qualities in the garden and that some gardeners grow it to make comfrey tea to put on their plants and beds.  Here's a link to an article about comfrey in the garden.  After reading that again, I may have to find an out-of-the-way spot for more comfrey.

We've been monitoring the temperature in the greenhouse with a remote thermometer for several weeks now.  A few weeks ago, we put a small, oil-filled heater in the greenhouse and I've determined that it seems to keep things above freezing at least.  So, I moved my seedlings from the kitchen window where they were starting to get leggy and light-starved to the table in the greenhouse where they will receive ample sunlight.  Keeping fingers crossed that all goes well there.  The tomatoes I started are out in the greenhouse and I'm wondering if maybe the temperature just isn't consistent enough for germination.  They may have to come inside for a few days to get going.

I just don't know.

I do know that I'm fixing to run out of planting room in a hurry.  So much growing, so little space...

Do You Know What Time It Is?

I got a little email from myself this morning that said, "Seven weeks until average last frost date!"  That means it's time.

Tomato time.

This year's seed selection is large.  Almost vast, actually.  Some of these I bought, some I was given by a friend.  No, her name is not 'Burpee.'

• Super Sweet 100 hybrid cherry tomatoes.  I've grown these for the last 3 years out of the same seed packet.  I finally planted the last of them today.  These things grow cherry tomatoes by the gross.  70 days.
• Yellow Pear heirloom.  This is my first time growing yellow tomatoes.  I've eaten yellows grown by others and they were okay although I don't believe they're any less acidic than their red brethren.  These seeds were handed to me by a gardening friend, so I'm planting them.  We'll see.  76 days.
• Mortgage Lifter heirloom.  The tomato of myth and legend that, allegedly, helped a man who was down on his luck save his home.  That's good enough for me to try them.  80 days.
• Bloody Butcher.  The name says it all.  55 days.
• Independence Day hybrid.  These are almost the earliest of the lot at 56 days to maturity.  Hence the name.  I want to see if they really will be ready by the 4th of July.
• Big Pink hybrid.  Pink tomatoes just seem wrong.  I want to see if they are any good.  75 days.
• Roma hybrid.  Your basic paste tomato.  76 days.

I planted all but the roma tomato seeds today.  All except the romas are indeterminate types.  They look a little bit exactly like this right now:

Yep, that's three of each.  I'm not taking any chances on misfires.  I'd much rather have extra plants to try to get rid of gift to my gardening friends than not enough of something for my own purposes. I'll get to the romas tomorrow, maybe.  I need to make some more paper pots and I'm too tired to hunt for the pot maker right now. 

Now there's a spiffy little gadget!  It makes biodegradable seed starting pots out of newspaper.  Mine is made of maple, I think, and I got it on Etsy.  This isn't the one I got, but that shop is no longer on Etsy.  I sorta wish I had the one in the link.  Looks kinda like the Cadillac of paper pot makers.

Oh, and for the record, this is what some of the peppers look like.  Come to think of it, the eggplants look rather the same:

Lots of the peppers still look more or less like the tomatoes do right now.  I think my seed starting shelf has been too cold.  Time to dig out the heat mats.

Tomorrow is the farmer's market sellers meeting.  I. Can't. Wait!

au·then·tic·i·ty

I haven't forgotten about this guideline.  I did a bunch of web research about authenticity this winter.  It was a surprisingly hot topic.  Apparently there are people out there who are trying to pass themselves off as authentic this or that when they are anything but.

Who'da thunk it?

But I can't worry myself with that stuff.  The authenticity I'm concerned with this year as I keep this watchword in mind is all my own.

Learning to listen to the inner guide that lives in my heart hasn't been easy.  Actually, the listening is easy as hell.  It's the follow through that needs work.  For example:

I hate the gym.  I hate it with every fiber of my being and I make no attempt to hide it.  I hate the treadmill.  I hate the stationary bike.  I hate, hate, hate the elliptical.  They are so boring and pointless.  They make me want to put my own eyes out with a spork.  The thought of standing there in the constant pursuit of lifting ever heavier weights makes me want to run screaming into the night.

Well, maybe not actually run.  Running hurts my ankles.  I don't run.  I can, however, waddle rather quickly when necessary.

So tell me why in the hell do I keep trying to go to the gym to get exercise?  Because someone said that's how to do it.

I go.  I do whatever ridiculous activity of my choosing feeling a fool the entire time.  I feel a sense of hollow accomplishment.  Then I go and do the same thing again.  And again.  And again.  It's revolting and mind-numbing and I can't stand it.

And it's So. Not. Me. I tried so hard to like it.  I tried so hard to feel a sense of accomplishment when I went from 20 to 30 minutes on the bike.  Or that time I decided to do some intervals of light jogging during my dreadmill session.  Did I mention I don't run?  Yeah.  That didn't pan out so well.

Therefore, as of right now, I've sworn off the gym.  I've promised myself to never have to go again if I don't want to.  I'm listening to my inner guide and she's saying, "Let. It. Go."  I've done this before, I know.  But this time, I mean it.  I'm done.

Truth be told I don't have it in me to be that focused on my appearance anymore.  Sure, I used to.  But the thing I really want is good health.  I know that some of that will come with weight loss. Frankly, I can't worry about that now.  I'm more worried about what is going into my body than what is coming off.  The quality and quantity of my meals.  The fresh air.  The fitness that comes from living a clean life and an doing honest day's work.

And, I learned something new.

The scale is a bitch.  It lies.  You think that weight you lost is fat, but it's probably not.  It's more likely to be water and it will be back tomorrow or the next day. Sometimes if the scale isn't changing, your body is but that bitch won't tell you.  In the end, the number your scale shows you when you step on board is only a representation of the effect of gravity on the physical mass of your body.  Nothing more, nothing less.  It is not your self worth.  It is not a reflection of who you are as a person.  It is not a definition of your attractiveness to the opposite (or not) sex.  It is not the thing that lets you sleep well at night...more often, it's the reverse.  And, if you do somehow manage to lose weight and get to the place you wanted to be, you won't stay there without constant vigilence. 

I don't know if I have that kind of persistence in me.

No.  No more.  My life and my time are more valuable than that. I can't spend the time in relentless pursuit of something so pointless and fleeting.  I've sorta drifted off center a bit.  I'm righting my course now.  Heading back to alignment with who I am...my authentic self.  This doesn't mean I'm giving up.  I will get smaller and healthier, but I have to do it my own way.  I will find other metrics besides weight loss to measure my progress.  Say, climbing the stairs at work without wheezing or finally being able to wear those slacks again.  That would be a good start.

Because, really, if I actually get somewhere by trying to be someone or something I'm not, how long can I possibly hope to stay there?