Getting My Garden Ready

If you live further south of the 49th parallel, you may have already made your garden for this year. I've been watching the weather and the forecast of temperatures, sort of assuming that Victoria Day weekend was coming up this very next weekend. But I've just checked and I assumed wrong. It is the weekend of May 22-23.

Okay with me. I started last evening to go out for about half an hour's work to prepare my garden. I can see there is enough work to keep me busy for several more such half hours. Well, except for the rainy days. The weathernetwork website shows that we can expect rains the last couple of days this week, and then some more early into next week.

During the winter I had tossed my buckets of compost onto the snow drifts in the garden, but yesterday, I grabbed a spade, dug some holes near each lump of compost and buried them. I also carried off about 10 big bags of leaves from last fall. This morning I saw through the window some 7 or so so that I missed. (Actually, no, I was too winded to carry any more of them!)

There are weeds spouting up all over the garden, so I will be spending some time pulling them up and into garbage bags. This will reduce the weed population to some degree. Still, that is a constant war all summer long.

My neighbour, Rita, came by yesterday to pick up the strawberry red rhubarb plant I'd offered to her. When I moved here in 2007 I brought along Dad's big one that he was so proud of. It disappears in fall, and a few weeks ago, there was no sign of life. But this week a cluster of 4 plants popped up in that spot. I think I'll separate them so that I can have several large plants by the end of summer.

Oh, and the irises that I dug up 2 years ago, which had multiplied from 9 to 43, are now popping up in my borders along the fences, etc., and also in the front flowerbeds. So I believe in another week or two I may have photos of these elegant irises to show off!

One job I can do inside when the rain keeps me indoors, is to sort through my seeds. I did not get that finished in the fall, and I need a fresh sense of what I have, and what I might have to buy yet.

As I told Rita yesterday, I'm a business woman Monday through Friday, a gardener for about half an hour after supper, and a domestic housekeeper on Saturdays. Sometimes I'm surprised myself with how much I get accomplished in these three roles.

If you divide your time between housekeeping and gardening I can only imagine how fine your house looks and how your garden thrives! I wish you every success!

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