Plotting and planning for spring

It's a sunny, cold day at the farmette. We're at the end of March, and through the first quarter of the year. It snowed yesterday, making it feel like the longest winter ever. But no. It's been longer here in Grey County.

It's been quite a week here. Sick cats - plural. Fred decided to stop eating most recently. No raised temperature. Nothing weird except some 'sludge' that showed up in the ultrasound image of his bladder. Cripes.

He's the bladder stone boy who needed serious surgery to remove 18 of them, so we're extra vigilant. Water running through his internal pipes is the best defense. He's usually good with the intake, so don't know how this happened.

He got some sub cutaneous fluids and a shot of Cerenia, so we'll see how it goes. I joked that we should set up a cot at the veterinarians. On the up side, Bea and Calvin who were very sick, are feeling much better. Funny how you can bump along normally for a long stretch, then have several crap things happen at once.

Anyhow. to make myself feel better, I started planning for my gardens and beds.

Here's my super sophisticated map of the vegetable plantings. The 'nasties' are nasturiums and I've decided to have them draping over the sides of the raised beds. Or not. I may plant turnips, as you can see.

Nasturiums are incredibly resilient annuals that bloom pretty much all summer. The trailing ones are especially fetching. And you can eat the flowers. The add a peppery, orange/yellow zip to salads.

Most of the rest will be taken up by root vegetables. Plus the requisite roma tomatoes for canning and a few pepper plants.

I managed to prune the Annabelle hydrangea in between snow falls. Hopefully, we'll have a bumper crop like last year.

After chopping the plants almost to the ground last fall, the peonies should be in good shape for late May(?) Can't wait for their blousy blossoms and the heavenly scent.

I planted the garlic in a raised bed for the first time this year. Hoping they come through as well as last year, when they were in the ground.

We had a supply right up until last week, when I had to get some at the grocery store. We eat a lot of garlic, which is probably why we're healthier than our cats, just now. Hahahaha.

So here's to healthier, sunnier, warmer days and the anticipation of a bumper crop of veggies and blooms from the farmette. Until next week.

Gratuitous cat photo courtesy of Fred, who despite feeling poorly (or maybe because of it), is still a lap cat.