Soaker

Sage blossoms

 

I’m anxiously awaiting the arrival of a soaker hose system for the raised beds in the garden. We have one sprinkler, which is kind of all or nothing, and hand-watering takes ages, although my issue with the nozzle sprayer is more with our water pressure, which turns the ‘gentle shower’ setting to ”car wash’ intermittently. Soaker hoses will be like gentle drips of water applied directly to the base of the plants, hopefully preventing the more touchy plants (I’m looking at you, squash) from getting their leaves wet.

We’re also getting three more of the tomato automator trays, which I think are really making a difference in keeping the tomatoes robust in this inconsistent weather.

So far, the hit of the season is the creeping thyme, which came back from a planting last year and is creeping away!

Short Spring

Purple lady

Spring has performed it’s usual trick where it’s chilly until it’s sweltering. Toads appear in the driveway at night when it rains, looking at us like we’re the invaders when we step outside. Almost everything Kelly started from seed is in the ground now, with the exception of a few scrawny late starts, and some mysterious unlabeled flower seedlings. I planted several of the mystery seedlings in the front beds this weekend – one was labelled lavender and was obviously not lavender, and another plant next to it was also labeled lavender even though another seedling that looked identical was labeled bee balm. I anticipate more surprise blooms.