Garden Day

Before the sun even showed itself this morning, I was out in my green barn coat (from LLBean), setting out the last of the bunching onions, mostly to get rid of them. They needed to get out of their pots and I needed to stop carrying them in and out of the house. It was cool and overcast, looking like it might rain. We always read the forecast, and there was very little chance of it. But it was pleasant for working outside.

Ray left before 7:30 with the truck. We are selling (my Dad is selling) the truck and someone is coming to look at it tomorrow afternoon. So Ray is spending the day helping John O. cut up and split a big red oak that came down at his house. They are borrowing a splitter from Kevin Manglitz. John has a trailer hitch, apparently. He used to trail a boat back and forth to Lake Hartwell...So they worked on that all morning.

My Dad arrived about 9:30 and we worked hard all morning, too. We set out 6 zucchini plants and a couple cucumbers. I assisted, fetching tools and water and manure and giving opinions. In between times, I sprinkled a little wood ash around some of the broccoli and green beans. I'm often doing a little weeding here and there, punctuated by periods of sitting and enjoying the weather and the view of the garden. Gladys, the last surviving chicken, is not far most of the time. I don't think she is lonely, really--I'm not sure a chicken can be lonely. But she may feel safer when someone is nearby. At one point, she was following me...and Cameron was trailing behind. We had a little parade.

At about 11:00 or so, Ray called me. He and John had loaded up the truck and they were going to bring it here and unload it, followed by lunch at our house. This was a great plan, except we didn't have anything much to offer. John was bringing ham and beer. I set about clearing the table and putting on the tablecloth. I washed a head of romaine and some broccoli. I took the sweet potato rolls out of the freezer and put them on the table in a basket to thaw. I started some sun tea on the porch. I steamed the broccoli and marinated it with canned cannellini. I sliced up a few tomatoes and put them on the table in a pretty dish. I channeled my mother and grandmother. We had a lovely lunch, with fruit and cookies for dessert.

They rushed off to get another load...Ray should be back about now, I'm wondering where he is. Grampa headed quickly to Normal Hardware to buy some more staples. We had to put the Remay over the squash plants to keep the bugs off them until they are big enough to flower and we need to let them in, at least the good ones. By now, the sun was pretty hot, but it was still a very pleasant day. Dad also set a couple  tomato plants in pots for the deck. We sat on the porch for a bit, talking and relaxing and feeling good about what we accomplished. We spend a lot of time discussing what we need to do next. It often seems there isn't enough space for everything. Pumpkins and melons take up lots of room. We don't even have the sweet potatoes yet...and I like to plant peanuts, too. We need more beans, too. Hmm.