Getting Yard Work Done

But not much else. Still, we've been productive. Ken's tilled up all but one of the garden plots so that they're ready for planting. The other was, until yesterday, home to a couple rows of collard greens. He pulled them all up and picked and trimmed and cooked them. Now we have a "mess" of collards in small containers ready to go into the freezer.

This flower is not in our yard, but growing wild out in the vineyard.

We got the remaining downed branches and twigs up off the ground and the grass is cut once again. It's looking like someone is actually taking care of the place once more. I'll tell you, the first cut of the season is always the most difficult, what with the hearty weeds and the thick grass, not to mention the soft patches where the moles made their tunnels. For some sections of the yard, this was the second mowing of the season, so those parts were much easier to do.

We've also made some progress on an old tilleul (linden tree) stump. The tree was cut down back in 2003 (it was sick) and the stump has been an ugly scar in the yard since. Last year I hacked a lot of the rotten bits out with a pick-axe, but there was still a hard core that refused to budge. This year we built a fire of yard waste over the stump and burned it. The fire smoldered for about twenty-four hours and much of the hard core is gone. But not all of it. I may have to take the chain saw in to deal with what remains.

Once I'm able, I plan to level the ground around the old stump and plant grass seed. The location is right where we want to put an outdoor table during the summer season.

Otherwise, the tomato seedlings are progressing nicely. Most of them have been separated into individual pots -- there are still some stragglers that aren't yet big enough for that. Of course, I have way too many plants. I will have to bite the bullet and discard some, I suppose, because there just won't be room in the garden for all of them.

If everything goes according to plan, this year's garden will include several varieties of tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, chard, radishes, zucchini, patty-pan squash, and sweet corn. Ken used the plot out by the compost pile to plant potatoes (thanks Jean & Nick!). And until yesterday, I had forgotten about green beans. Most of the seed planting will happen in mid May, when all danger of frost has passed. Although I must say that it feels that a frost right now is highly unlikely. But you never know.