Unofficial, My Aunt Fanny

That may just be the stupidest phrase ever, but it amuses me anyway.  Before we begin today's discussion about ridiculous seasonal designations, please go here to read the first post I ever did for Memorial Day and take your moment for reflection.  It's the least we can do.  


Okay, on with the randomness.

Memorial Day weekend is frequently referred to as "the unofficial start of summer," usually by marketers trying to sell shit like beach towels and ridiculously expensive grills. The official start is, of course, when the calendar says it is.  Which is based on the sun and all that nature stuff.  This year, it happens to be June 20.

Try telling that to my bolting lettuce.

This Memorial Day weekend is most definitely the beginning of summer for the garden.  It's dry.  It's hot.  The tomatoes have grown about four inches in two days*, the spinach is done for, and the beans popped up and grew three inches in a day.  Also, the asparagus is literally growing overnight.

Everything that is going to be planted has been planted. Except I think the leeks, but the MiL takes care of those.  Our next big chore--by which I mean A.'s next big chore--will be bringing a few pick-up truck loads of sheep-shit straw into the garden to mulch the growing potatoes some more.  I'll also steal some to mulch the tomatoes, and that, I think, will probably be about the last useful thing I can do when it comes to weed control in the garden this year.

It's gonna be ugly in there in a month or two, duckies.  But by then we'll all have a new baby to focus on, so there might not be much attention paid to that weedy patch of dirt in any case.

Oh!  And speaking of new babies!  The current and FINAL lamb count for 2012: Nineteen--eleven girls, eight boys, and no more deliveries.  Thank God.  Also: Holy shit, that's a LOT of lambs.

* I know!  I didn't tell you when I planted my tomatoes!  That's because I'm so busy yammering on about woodchucks and diapers.  Priorities.