Still raining.

March always seems to be my worst month. Spring has sprung, but it comes in short little teases, just enough sunshine to wake up the bulbs, Trees start breaking bud, and 2 of my fav plants (Helleborus and Daphne) bloom.BUT,it's still cold enough to freeze and force me back inside.
So far, April has been no different. We have been consistently under the average temp for this time of year, and the rain is starting to seriously bum me out. Here's what I did manage to get done in between our snow storms....
The gate is almost finished. This is the point in a project where I run out of money/motivation to finish the details....like the pergola on top and wrapping the posts with some Cedar...

Funny, this is exactly how the back fence was left...over a year ago...and it still doesn't have it's fancy pergola. Don't be lazy!



I managed to expand the veggie garden this year,which I am really pleased about. Growing food has become a very important thing for me, even if after all is said and done i am still spending as much money on my produce. I have been very troubled about the shipping of produce lately, especially while reading Animal Vegetable Miracle, by Barbra Kingsolver.
Shipping food all over the world so we can eat whatever we want, WHENEVER we want seems like a very foolish way to live that with time and technology, evolved from being a crazy extravagant luxury to being, well... just what we do. (well, for us fat Americans anyway). I think a great example is Asparagus. We love it, so until about a week ago when Cali's started in, all the Asparagus was being flown here from Chile. Freakin' Chile. The thing about this veggie is that is starts to break down and lose it's texture and taste, pretty much as soon as you pick it. So we are willing to pay $6 a pound for a tasteless vegetable from another continent....just because we want it?! Why bother? I think it's time to start eating locally and with the seasons again. Just as soon as I finish scarfing down this Avocado...I am certainly not perfect.
I digress.

I added these 2 beds most recently, the larger one will be (surprise) all Asparagus. It is a perennial, and won't do anything the first year, maybe a couple blooms. We can have a small harvest the second year, and year three, it's Asparagus every day for a month.
We made so much amazing pesto last year, but not quite enough to get us through the whole year, so the smaller bed will all basil. I. Can't. Wait.

This area of the yard was previously unusable for anything due to a very sick Apricot that would rain whiteflies down on everything within it's reach. Gross. Tried to treat it,but it was way beyond saving, the tree was in terrible condition, and allowed to grow straight up, like 2 twigs. When the house went on the market, I may have accidentally bumped into it with my chainsaw...but I'm sure it would have fallen on my garage eventually,right?
Well, I am thinking about a fruit tree or two back there...maybe a Plum? I also REALLY want a Pawpaw tree (well, two for pollination) and I have run out of room everywhere else for trees...maybe this is the spot! I have never tasted Pawpaw fruit, but anything described like "banana ice cream" has to be worth a shot. It's a native American fruit that was significant sustenance for the Lewis and Clark expedition, as well as for the Native Americans. They are unusually high in protein and vit. C. So why aren't they in every store in the country? They don't travel well, a factor that has made them a very rare sight. shame.