You Know You Care

About the garden, that is. You're probably all sitting out there at your computers day after day, clicking dismissively away from my lame photos of fish and lambs, thinking, "GOD. When is she going to talk about her garden again already."

No? Well, too bad. Today it's all garden, all the time. Because you know what happens in a vegetable garden in the spring, right? A WHOLE LOT of pain-inducing labor, that's what. The race is on to plant everything at the appropriate times--when the ground is dry, but not too dry, when it's not raining, but not too hot. Not that we have a lot of trouble with the "not too hot" part, but the point remains. When the weather is right, you best be out in that patch of dirt busting ass.

So I have. (Although my ass seems to be disappointingly not busted. Boo.)

Saturday I planted the green cabbage and broccoli seedlings. Meaning I dug up the ground (which YES, I still have to do even after it's tilled because our soil is kind of clay-y and compacts easily--this is irritating, to say the least), smacked the dirt clods around with my hoe (heh), raked it all smooth, dug holes, and THEN planted the seedlings. I also planted some more lettuce and spinach in between the corn rows, but I only hoed the soil for those.

Then I hauled around a giant infant for the rest of the day, who did not seem to care that Mommy was tired and she just wanted to sit on the couch. If only I could put Cubby to work in the garden and tire him out too.

All in good time.

ANYWAY.

The MiL, meanwhile, was planting her tiny leek plugs, of which she got many more than she ordered and so had to plant many more than she ordered. But at least she didn't have to haul a giant infant around.


ANYWAY AGAIN.

Then on Sunday, out I went again for more digging, more hoeing, more planting. This time the eggplants, bell peppers, and red cabbages. I put up the Walls o' Water around the eggplants, which is a chore devised by Satan himself, I'm pretty sure. At least if you don't have a convenient hose to fill them with and therefore have to schlep back and forth from the rain barrel by the house with a watering can.

Perhaps you can tell I don't have a convenient hose? No, I don't. And so I slopped water around with a watering can, straining my back and cussing all the while.

And then I hauled around the giant infant some more. Who chose that night to wake up every two hours, which caused me to feel as if I had been run over by a truck when I got up on Monday morning, what with the lack of sleep and the general bone-weariness that results from heavy labor.

But I'm better now! Good thing, because still to come this week: I will take Tomato Masochism to new heights by constructing tomato supports for and planting two dozen tomato plants AND THEN hauling around the giant infant. Plus, basil, hot peppers . . . and giant infant hauling.

The things I do for the love of tomatoes.