and we're back ...

Sorry for the absence, folks.

Today is significant in the annals of the 2010 garden since I stopped by this morning and gathered all the ingredients for my lunch salad today (red & green lettuce, spinach, dill, cilantro, parsley and oregano).

But things have been moving along in the meantime. I planted six batches of corn and they're starting to come up. I'll follow with some beans either next week or two weeks from now.

I sounded all smug when I said something like "I don't think it will freeze again after April 15." I was barely right. Last week it got damn cold and nearly had frost at night. The tomatoes and eggplants I had carefully grown indoors the last few months? When I came by on Sunday, it looked like they were all goners. I sheepishly made my way to the farmer's market to buy replacements.

"Don't water them!" my garden neighbor (not the mean one) warned me, when I told him what had happened. He was right. After a warm week, I think two out of the four plants might make it. The other two are barely clinging to life, but perhaps there's a chance.

Anyone out there want any dill or mint plants? They're coming up wild. I can even give you a volunteer raspberry plant since I noticed Ed's not just expanding, but apparently spawning as well.

The tiller awoke before dawn. He put his boots on.

Yes, I did visit Jim Morrison's grave when I was in Paris.

So I rented this tiller for 4 hours and went to work. I've got onion and lettuce plants I've grown from seed for about a month that need to go in soon. The lettuce plot will get a sprinkling of additional seeds soon after. I've learned with lettuce that it's good to have plants at different stages of development since they otherwise all tend to bolt to seed at the same time.

As I said in a previous post, this was an air strike against the deeply rooted "choker plant." I'll know in a few weeks how effective it was. Honestly, I don't think the mechanized tiller went much deeper than my efforts by hand, but it was a hell of a lot easier and quicker.

If you're playing close attention to the photo, you'll notice three significant changes from previous years. One is I redesigned the wooden planks. Originally they were meant to cordon off different sections and provide a boundary to the plot as a whole. I decided I needed wider walking paths instead (so you don't compact the soil and it's not such an acrobatic exercise to get around in there). The weeds were growing under the planks anyway. Somehow.

Secondly, I "moved the goalpost" - that trellis type thing I fashioned for peas. They never seemed to survive in the original location, so I picked a more shady spot near my neighbor's fence. I'm also going to try seeding them directly this year instead of starting them indoors.

Thirdly, in the background you'll notice my new Nissan truck. My Honda Civic was a beloved old friend, but since I hardly drive and need cargo space for tools, mulch and musical equipment, I finally overcame my sentimentality and gave it up. I cracked the front windshield twice trying to cram my bass cab into the front passenger seat which was the only place it could fit. Last month I did a gig with North of Canada in Arlington and equipment was no longer an issue. Now I just need to relearn how to parallel park.