what awaits the "last spring frost" (April 15)

Despite the fact it may get up to 90 (!) this week, the average last frost tends to coincide with the tax deadline. Here's my garden layout as of yesterday, when I stopped by to start my "potatoes in a barrel" scheme, as well as to transplant dill, cilantro, parsley and thai basil and harvest some asparagus. If I was less of a risk taker and had more room under the grow lights, the dill and thai basil would still be indoors until the 18th, when I'll transplant pretty much everything I've started indoors.

You can't see 'em, but there actually are very small spinach and lettuce plants sprouting up. The peas, however, did not make it. Each year I've tried, they've eluded me in separate ways. Meep meep.

My garlic is doing quite well. It's all cloves I bought from the co-op or farmers market over the past three years that planted after they started to sprout, and which subsequently produced seeds. Onions are not too shabby either. The big ones are from seeds I planted last year. And Ed the raspberry is almost getting so big that a pruning will be in order this coming winter/spring.

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.