Farmer Time

I planted my tomatoes yesterday! I used an exclamation mark because it is exciting to plant tomatoes!! Well, at least for me, it is. Here's why:

a) it means winter is over
b) it means I get to dig in the dirt
c) it means that the summer delight of tasty vegetables is on its way

This year, it was a little more of a challenge to garden. I am on the last week of No-Weight-Bearing on the Frankenfoot, 2.0. So, I rode my little cart out to the yard. Then, I climbed down off it, and sat on the grass beside my raised bed and started to dig. When I needed to move to a new spot, I could scooch along on my bottom, or I'd roll over to my knees and crawl around.

It was a beautiful day: 75 degrees, a little overcast, so I didn't get too much of a sunburn. I'm completely pasty white. Any vestige of suntan that I might have had from motorcycling or performing playground duty, or after-school traffic patrol have vanished entirely from my skin. I don't even have a driver's tan right now because I haven't been able to drive since Feb. 2nd. So, one little goal is to spend more time outside this week (now that the beautiful weather is back) and try to get a little sun.

I dug around and pulled up weeds and roots from the grass that sneaks in between the edges of the planks, and greeted the earthworms that live out there. Then, I got the hose (using my cart) and pulled it over to the bed and began the planting. You may be thinking, "Where was that CoolGuy? Why wasn't he helping you?" I told him I could do it myself. I wanted  to do it myself. I could have asked him to help, he'd have certainly done anything I asked. He always does. But, this was for me.

So here you go:  photos of my soon-to-be tomato forest. At the east end, I've planted spinach and lettuce, which should give me at least one crop before the HEAT sets in and kills them. Then, I'll put basil in where they are now. Basil loves Las Vegas in the summer. Right now, I have it growing in a pot in my kitchen window. CoolGuy came to check on my progress, and I was finished with the raised bed and was preparing this pot to hold an extra plant I had left over.

If you look closely, you can see that my knees are soaking wet from kneeling in the wet grass.

I'm carefully keeping my foot up off the wet grass. It's only wet because I sprayed water on it, while planting my bedding plants. But, one of the thrills of gardening is that you get to play in dirt and water.

It's hard to see, but my cart is right behind me.

It's going to be a jungle of tomatoes soon!