GARDEN PARTY II - THE AFTER PARTY!

Oh, I know that's a cheesy title - I just couldn't resist. Tonight's the Grammy's or Oscar's or some big hullabaloo. And no, we won't be watching. We'll be watching the back of our eyelids, I suspect. And pretty early, too. It's been a long weekend filled with family and fun ... and gardening!

We made another quick trip to Lowe's this morning. Yesterday we bought 30 bags of mulch. Today we bought 35 bags of "egg rock." It's like small river rock, but bigger than pea gravel. With all of this unloading and bending and lifting, I'm pretty sure my chiropractor will see me tomorrow. My back is killing me! But the garden path looks awesome! Big John even helped me find the old stepping stones that led up to the front porch my entire childhood. They'd been out on the brick pile for many years, just waiting to be hauled off or broken up. It feels good to see them in our garden - lots of memories!

We planted everything we possibly could this early in the spring. We're counting on no more really cold weather (which means it will probably snow again!) We seeded okra, corn, and potatoes, and transplanted the rest. Our original garden patch - all fancy-fenced and irrigated - proved to be a tad bit too small this time around. So we're enlarging! We've tilled up half again the size just to the south of the garden.

Arturo even got in on the tilling action. I wonder if he's sore today. Probably not - he's young and in shape (at least that's what he'll tell you!!) Thanks to all that blasted rain, the ground worked up perfectly. We've got enough fencing and posts left over, so we'll get it fenced off next weekend, if not sooner. The current plan is to put the melons and cukes in that patch. I've vowed to make pickles this summer, which will be a first. Mother used to make the BEST bread and butter pickles! I doubt that I have the recipe, so I'll make do with whatever is in the Ball Blue Book. (Help your mom in the kitchen all you can now - you'll regret it if you don't. Most of those "tricks" aren't written down.) My secret wish is to extend the garden the entire length of the yard fence. But I'll have better luck if I go about it asking for it a little bit at a time!

I think the last hard freeze - it was in the 20s several nights in a row, which is unheard of for us - did our two Norfolk pines in. One was a "gift" from Su when they moved to Vernon. The other was from Mother's funeral. They were both very special to me, but I never thought they couldn't take the cold. We've talked about putting a greenhouse in that corner of the yard. Big John's always wanted a greenhouse. It might be just what we need for the future ... more to come on that soon!