Inching Towards Eden

Highly invasive spearmint

This weekend has been sunny with temperatures around 82 degrees, which makes for nice gardening! We've hoed and raked this little area known as GP 105 over and over again to keep everything nice and tidy, and then the rain comes and the weeds blanket through our progress again.  This time, we've put down additional recycled paper weed blanket. It is not as easy to use as the black fabric weed blankets most of our neighboring gardeners favor, but somehow seems to work well with the ground.  We also took advantage of the free leaf mulch delivered by the County truck and made several trips filling bags and hauling them back to the site so that we could mulch in the fence and parameters.  Remind me to purchase a wheel-barrow prior to Fall!

Gardening is, if nothing else, humbling. While I have clear visions of a beautiful and bountiful variety of thriving foliage and bloom, the garden at present does not seem to be participating in that vision. I do not know if it is because we started nearly everything from seed rather than purchased plants, or if the soil is too heavy, or the if something else is wrong; I only know the plants seem to be growing very,very slowly.  I would have expected the pepper plants to be about six or eight inches high by now, and they are still only two or three inches high after six weeks.  The tomatoes are slow to gain inches as well, but at least they are making an effort.  The peas and cucumbers merely appear to be enduring; but I've promised them not to take any drastic measures unless the tide turns well against them.  We added sunflowers, morning glories, and basil this weekend.  We also find we have wild spearmint, which someone planted before us and appears to be horribly invasive and prolific!  We've kept it well contained for now, but I know this bugger will be all about if we but give it a week left to itself. (Which we won't do.)

Hours and hours are spent puttering and trying to make the garden look well manicured, and ensure against the encroachment of weeds.  While I find the work satisfying, fulfilling, calming and invigorating, I do hope the plants are doing their part as well! I hope I have their full cooperation in this enterprise!

Tonight marks the beginning of another work week. While I'll be able to visit briefly during the week to water and to check on things, the weekends are when the real work gets done.  A whole five days until I have the opportunity to put on gloves and lose myself in water, light, air, and soil!