garden misadventures
May. 4th, 2003 08:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magicicadathe plan:
plant all of the bulbs, rhizomes, corms etc that i have been trying to get planted since the frost free date (4/15). i can't remember exactly what is in the bag, but i know there are caladiums, canna lilies and anemones.
real life:
after feeding sylvia, i hand her off to jeff to watch for an hr or so. i head outside after carefully gathering: bag of bulbs, gloves, toolbox, and bottle of water. in short, i managed to get everything i would need ready at once and was truly looking forward to a task accomplished. i stepped out the side door, looked for a good place to set my tools and saw foot-high stalks of potato plants sticking out of the compost bin. i couldn't take it. i've been meaning to harvest the compost for months now. two of the tomato beds are still waiting even though i've already planted the tomatoes. so... i set down all my tools for the bulb planting and moseyed off to the shed to get the pitchfork, a couple of shovels and a rake to remove the leaves around the bin. i'm sure i could have done a better job. i'm still not really sure of the best way to sort the compost. i'm quite certain it would be easier if i had a three bin system instead of one plastic 'earth machine', but that's just the way it is for now. i ended up with 10-15 gallons of really nice compost(barring the occasional half carrot), flipped the rest back into the bin for another go and put back all the tools.
the frustrating bit:
putting all of my poor bulbs back in the house along with the little shovels and the gloves, because i don't have time for 2 gardening tasks in one day. i should feel accomplished and i'm sure that i'll feel better once i have time to spread the compost around the tomatoes, but right now i keep thinking about the bulbs and wondering how much longer they will be happy in a paper bag in less than ideal conditions.
plant all of the bulbs, rhizomes, corms etc that i have been trying to get planted since the frost free date (4/15). i can't remember exactly what is in the bag, but i know there are caladiums, canna lilies and anemones.
real life:
after feeding sylvia, i hand her off to jeff to watch for an hr or so. i head outside after carefully gathering: bag of bulbs, gloves, toolbox, and bottle of water. in short, i managed to get everything i would need ready at once and was truly looking forward to a task accomplished. i stepped out the side door, looked for a good place to set my tools and saw foot-high stalks of potato plants sticking out of the compost bin. i couldn't take it. i've been meaning to harvest the compost for months now. two of the tomato beds are still waiting even though i've already planted the tomatoes. so... i set down all my tools for the bulb planting and moseyed off to the shed to get the pitchfork, a couple of shovels and a rake to remove the leaves around the bin. i'm sure i could have done a better job. i'm still not really sure of the best way to sort the compost. i'm quite certain it would be easier if i had a three bin system instead of one plastic 'earth machine', but that's just the way it is for now. i ended up with 10-15 gallons of really nice compost(barring the occasional half carrot), flipped the rest back into the bin for another go and put back all the tools.
the frustrating bit:
putting all of my poor bulbs back in the house along with the little shovels and the gloves, because i don't have time for 2 gardening tasks in one day. i should feel accomplished and i'm sure that i'll feel better once i have time to spread the compost around the tomatoes, but right now i keep thinking about the bulbs and wondering how much longer they will be happy in a paper bag in less than ideal conditions.
