It's a gorgeous day at the farmette. Sunny and already 11C. Yesterday, it was no-holds-barred, take-no-prisoners planting day. So I thought I'd show some pics of the adventures.
First, I had to wear the right outfit. Usually, I just throw on any old thing because I really like to get dirty - it's half the fun. But when I was rummaging around, I realized I have a t-shirt that completely suited the day. Then Wilma decided she needed to provide some sartorial help. Which only added to the fun.
On Friday, I made a quick trip around the corner to the Co-op in Durham to pick up some Roma tomato plants, some regular tomatoes, red and yellow pepper plants and other bits and bobs that I could not resist.
I went then because I figured it would be a zoo on the weekend, given that they were forecasting warm sunny days. I just knew there'd be hordes of gardening shoppers and I'm still skittish about being around hordes - even masked ones - during the pandemic.
On Friday, I had also planted up most of the 'little' garden with radishes, green onion, beets and carrots. Yesterday, after a slight frost scare on Friday night, it was time to plant out the tomatoes. I have sixteen Roma plants that seem extra small and delicate this year - or my memory is failing from 2020. Anyhow, I've already got them caged so their gigantic amounts of tear-drop yummy fruit can be supported on their branches. Hard to believe these tiny babies will be a metre tall and have stems that are about five centimetres thick come August. That's when the fruit will be processed into sauces, chutneys and jams. Yum!
The extras that I got were two clematis that I planted out in a raised bed behind the garage that Rob and I made earlier. We've gone a bit raised-bed crazy since we started binging Monty Don's "Gardening World" television program as a respite from the relentless cycle of COVID-19 news.
The English love their raised beds, and they seem like they're less work that the traditional garden - so we're giving them a whirl this year. While we have lots of boards left over from when we had our deck re-done a few years ago, we needed to buy the 4x4 inch post - which, with pandemic inflation, cost us more than $30 for one, 10-foot length!
Anyhow, I think it'll be worth it, because I planted the eating tomato plants in front of the clematis, so we'll have beauty and functionality all in one place. We snugged it between last year's raised beds which now contain herbs (on the left) and strawberries (on the right).
We've also discovered quite a few of Mother Nature's gifts in the hedgerow that lines the west perimeter of the farmette property. No less than Ontario's official flower grows in profusion there. Gotta love the trilliums as a sign of spring. While you don't have to go full-on gardening like we do, I'm hoping all the friends and family can get out in the sunshine and enjoy the fresh air whatever you do.