April 18, 2018 - Friday evening

62 degrees/clear skies/breezy

Pentoga Road

As Julius Caesar's gardener was heard to say every spring,

"Veni et vini quod plantitum est!"

I came, I saw, I planted!

Other than a few odds and ends, this year's garden is in the ground. Looking back through the blog, this is the earliest the garden has ever been planted. On the other hand, this spring is the warmest we've enjoyed in several years.

I arrived home shortly before ten this morning and headed directly to the garden. My first objective was to fire up the new tiller and begin planting.

It's larger and more powerful than the old machine, so much so that I was tempted to run to the house, don a helmet, and find a seatbelt to fasten.

I planted and transplanted, then planted some more. I think there are five kinds of winter squash, three varieties of tomatoes, three of peppers, rutabagas, parsnips, cucumbers, four different kinds of pumpkins, two varieties of potatoes, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, beans, peas, three types of melons, and probably ten or fifteen other vegetables and fruits that have slipped my mind.

Flowers? There are a few. Four types of sunflowers are in the ground including the newest variety, a completely white sunflower. Several other varieties of flowers will be planted tomorrow.

Needless to say, I'm about gardened out tonight. It was in the 70's and sunny today, almost perfect, but the wind and dust made it seem hotter than it really was. Basically, I feel like a withered prune. A good night's sleep ought to cure that.

One major project needed attending this afternoon. The bed in which the rutabagas were planted last year was almost destroyed. 

The baggies loved last summer's wet and cold weather and forgot to quit growing until the frigid temperatures arrived. Consequently, they pushed out all four sides. It took quite a while this afternoon to shovel the dirt away and rebuild the entire raised bed.

Sargie opens the Vision Center Saturday morning. I'm going to finish planting flowers then begin plumbing the new irrigation system for the blueberries.



Another of last year's monsoon discoveries was that blueberries love daily rainfall. We had a bumper crop that lasted almost all summer and into the fall. I'm going to attempt to duplicate those same conditions this year.

Oh shoot, I forgot about the extra twenty-five strawberry plants that arrived earlier this week. I remember ordering the first fifty plants, but not these that recently arrived. Chalk it off to old age. The strawberries need to be planted and I think I know of a place where there may be room. 

As much as I was looking forward to planting a few weeks ago, I'm eagerly anticipating getting on with my favorite gardening activity, the serious business of growing. 

It's time to move along and think about heading to bed. 

After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Today's blossoms will hopefully turn into tomorrow's apples.