April 28th, 2007 - Hi, Orange!
I learned something today due to gardening. When I was a kid, I had freckles. Unlike most girls (or at least those in the books I like to read), I ADORED having freckles. I was disappointed as a grew older to find them fading away. In the summer, I’d always get a few more, but not that much. I’ve been wondering lately and found out for sure today: It’s not age, it’s the sun. As I got older, I wore sunscreen and hats more often, and stayed out of the sun more. But last summer, I started riding my bike to/from work, which doesn’t shade my face at all (and I never put on sunscreen just to ride home). And last summer was the first year of my garden, which means a LOT more time outside than I’ve spent since I was a teenager.
Today, I worked outside for a couple hours. My freckles are huge, prominent, and all over my face (including my eyelids!). I forgot about sunscreen and I very strangely can’t find ANY of my three bucket hats (nor my gardening sunglasses). They must have been put away together, but I’ve looked everywhere that makes sense–and a few that don’t–to no avail. I’m probably going to buy a new one Monday after work as I simply can’t live without it. I’ve been looking for them for about a month so they must be well hidden.
What did I do in the garden? I played with dirt! Compost to be more specific. Nice, lovely humus created over the last three years. (Well, actually, some is older than that, but hadn’t decayed much.) I’ve put a layer on top of the tomato and pepper beds, plus where the salad fixings (greens, onions, and carrots) will go and the walking stick cabbage. Some of the peas we planted last weekend had their top soil washed away in the rains so I put some there as well. Oh, and I also filled in a hole–I’d dug a bunch of dirt from an unused area last summer to hill potatoes. It should grow some very nice beans and zucchini this summer! I also put some in the cherry bushes last week (BTW, a rabbit chewed one in half, so I don’t know if it will survive. They all still look like sticks, despite nice rainy weather all week). I intend to reserve some for the rhubarb planting and I think I’ll still have enough to spread where ever I’m planting beans. I didn’t have enough for the whole garden, so I’m putting it on the most important items. Tomatoes and peppers, since these are both heavily used by all in the family (Eric loved the salsa I made last year and tomatoes quite simply rock no matter how you prepare them except tomato soup and ketchup in my opinion). Walking stick cabbage (WSC) because they are my fun item and I really hope they grow well. And the beans because I loved my dried beans from last summer and hope to have a great crop this year. I’m planting three or four varieties, covering all the fence I can!
I could have gone back out this evening for more work, but after dinner (Eric took us to Ardy & Ed’s), I was really quite sore. It’s supposed to be just as nice tomorrow so I intend to finish the compost work (one more half wheelbarrow load, maybe two) and plant all the April items that I didn’t think of last week–greens, carrots, WSC, and I forget what else. I wrote up the planting guide so that I wouldn’t have to spend two days at the end of May doing all the gardening, but I keep forgetting to pay attention to it! Maybe I should put them on the household calendar as a reminder?
Oh, yes, Maggie helped some today. She wasn’t very interested but did carry one bucket of compost to the garden. She might have done more, but then our new neighbor girl, Carmen, came over to play. This is the first time she’s come over, so I hovered near them to offer things to do in the yard (like throwing Frisbees with the dogs and blowing bubbles). We also got to meet her Dad, which was nice. They moved in last December or January–as we found out in about March. We hadn’t really noticed, as the old neighbors left a lot of their stuff behind! With winter, no one’s outdoors very much but Carmen, who’s 6 has been out playing a LOT now that the weather’s nice. Maggie and I met her a couple weeks ago after a walk, and she came over earlier in the week to ask in Maggie could play. So when I was gardening and she came over to chat and meet the dogs, I told her to come back when Maggie got up from her nap. We told her Dad, too, that she was always welcome to come and play when we were in the yard. (Eric also went over and introduced himself when she first came over. We don’t think it’s a good idea for a kid to play in our yard if the parents have never met!)
Anyway, I just wanted to share my delight in my freckles and my gardening. Another update tomorrow, I hope!
One Response to “Hi, Orange!”
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April 30th, 2007 at 8:50 am EDT
Are the gone-neighbors the neighbors-with-the-boat-and-foam-siding or the neighbors on the other side?