Garden Notebook

I've been away from here for too long. Enjoying spring...day trips to the mountains and the lake (Tahoe), working in my little courtyard garden, sitting in the shade of my peach tree with the scent of lilacs drifting on the breeze. As well as all the daily rhythm of laundry, cooking, cleaning, dishes, diapers, and child rearing--all more sweet and peaceful with the spring sunshine and breezes flowing through the house.

(Oh, and celebrating...my daughter turned eleven. Eleven! How can I have an eleven year old? When she first came into my life, she was scrawny, sweet and six. She was missing her four top teeth and looked like a kitten when she smiled, which was often. Due to a speech disability, I couldn't understand a word she said...she pantomimed fluently for the first three months until, finally, through the grace of God, I understood most of what she was saying. Now, she is tall, almost as tall as me (which isn't saying much, actually), beautiful, and full of life as

Anyway, I'm stopping in to record some notes for my Garden Notebook. I will try to keep up on this through the summer.

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Garden Notebook

May 22, 2009

Back courtyard garden

Planted last week:

~marigolds

~impatiens

~Spanish lavender

Planted this week:

~Broccoli, butter crunch lettuce, and nasturtium seeds

Herb garden:

Four inch pots planted May 20: basil, thyme, dill, chocolate mint, and chives

Peach tree-lots of fuzzy green globes, getting bigger by the day!

Oh, I forgot to photograph my tomatoes. One Big Stripy heirloom and four Sweet 100's.

To do:

~seeds to plant: peas, swiss chard

~buy and plant: bell peppers, onions, potatoes, garlic, and green beans

~buy ladybugs for roses (covered in aphids!)

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I know it isn't much; budget restraints are keeping me from going hog-wild at the garden center. But little by little, it's becoming my sweet little potager. Wasn't I blessed to inherit this little space already outfitted with brick raised beds, a peach tree, and two rose bushes? It gets a good amount of sun throughout the day, but gets nice and shady around five. It is all fenced in, so I can easily keep an eye on the little ones while I work. I've also been going out at nap time to sit under the peach tree to read. So peaceful!