(plumbers) crack & the bounty

Every year, the first big day of gardening arrives. every year i put on my old (and too big for me) jeans and a tank top and go to work forgetting completely about the sun that my skin is not used to being exposed to. And every year, the plumbers crack pays the price... but alas, this annual act of stupidity is a small price to pay... the bounty is plentiful. More importantly, there is something soulful about working in the soil and cultivating your own food. try it, you'll like it.

the crack i've been on lately is not the normal crack though that brings with it nasty side effects, poor decisions and inevitable twitches. this cultivatar is special. said crack is of the garden variety; it's seasonal. and it effects my brain (see next) and body (see bottom of this entry) in different yet similar ways.

said garden has a controversial history. I carved it from the rocky post-construction land over 5 years ago. Every bed was created by hand, by me. no powered equiptment. Just a shovel, a pick and a LOT of sweat. (to say it was a rocky abyss is an understatement). every year i'd amend the clay soil (builders typically strip top soil on a new site. in its place, they truck in rocky, rooty crap). every year the beds would become more productive. After living here for a few years, the condo board decided to force me (and everyone else) to remove their gardens. Obviously, an industrial green, fertilized lawn was ideal path to the uniformity that some sought.

i fought it - going door to door convincing neightbors my gardens should be "grandfathered in" to the association bylaws. I won the vote by a small margin and that leads me to the crack i'm on today. it's good stuff - try it, you'll like it.

This is what "my" yard looked like when i moved in. pure goodness!

my garden this year is all about function. granted there are some flowers but the goal is productivity. left: some perennials and annuals under the bird feeders. right: all pots will be largely herbs and smaller veges. i'm prepping them for planting now.

left: rosemary overwinters! right: mint - don't plant this. it takes over in a HUGE way.


Helebores are early bloomers although this is a bit late for them. lovely.

Columbine - and it's seeding after a few years of cultivation! it's a lovely pink variety.

peony is coming up. the ants love it.

i lost my strawberry patch in the past 2 years being gone in the dry weeks of august... lo and behold there were plants - spread all over. i replanted the entire bed and put in some rows to facilitate spring picking. YUM!!!!

Left: rhubarb - my newest addition! It will take 2 years for the good stuff but i can wait! Right: me giving the bunnies the finger. yea i know they'll throw that sh@t right back at me... but let me daydream that i've won atleast this week.

Left: Garlic! thanks to C this is also a new edition. Right: beets are sprouting! another first. yum!

Brussel sprouts. incredibly they overwinter. i also put in a few new plants just in case.

Left: butterfly garden. truth be told the birds and hummers like it more than the butterflies.
Right: raspberries are starting to fill out.


Spring bulbs....

bleeding hearts waking up...

The back bed is largely annuals, bulbs and perennials. This year i'm transforming it to include more native species that accommodate / feed birds.
2 b continued....