Digging in the Dirt

I'm off work today, and it's been raining all day long. Good time to try and go through more boxes, and get the house arranged a little more. Hopefully by summer we'll have everything put away...

Last Sunday was absolutely beautiful in Minneapolis. The wife and I went for a walk around Lake Harriet, then spent about 5 hours in the yard. We're planning on having a nice little vegetable garden, but there was a lot of prep work First we had to pull up a ton of grass:



Then we moved a peony:



(Speaking of peonies, I've always put the emphasis on the second syllable- pe-OWN-ee. Apparently I've been mispronouncing it for years- so, it's supposed to rhyme with "pee on me?")

Finally, we turned the soil, added some peat moss/compost/soil mixture and fertilizer, and planted a few things. We picked up the following plants at the nursery: 4 cauliflower, 4 brussels sprouts, 2 green leaf lettuce, 1 basil, and 1 cilantro. We also planted some seed: spinach, lettuce mix, swiss chard, carrots, radishes, chives, and green onion. It was early to plant in MN (April 23), but it's been a very warm spring, and everything but the herbs thrive in cooler weather. In a couple weeks, I'm going to head to the Friends School plant sale, and get tomatoes, peppers, herbs, and anything else that looks good. We'll also seed some cucumbers, squash, and beans in a month or two.

Overall, the garden's looking pretty good:



We're smiling in that picture, despite the fact that our bodies are already beginning to ache. Walking was painful for many days afterward. You don't realize how much you're straining your hamstrings, lower back, triceps, shoulders, etc. while you're doing it...

We had a few nights that dropped down into the 30s, and the peony and cilantro are looking pretty sorry. I knew it was way early to plant herbs, but I just couldn't help myself. Cilantro's hard enough to grow when it's 95 and sunny every day. A few of the seeds are starting to sprout, and one of the cauliflower plants has seemingly doubled in size. I'll keep posting pictures throughout the summer.