I "got away" today---to my garden. The past several weeks have featured rains just often enough

[Atticus]

to keep the earth too wet to till and plant. It finally dried out a few days ago and I've been playing "catch up" with spring planting.

So far, I have three types of tomatoes, cayennes, jalapenos and California Wonder sweet peppers. Cukes ("Straight Eight" ), zukes("Black Beauty" ), Swiss Chard("Fordhook" ), Romaine lettuce ("Parris Island" ) and arugula are also planted. The most labor-intensive was the two dozen sweet potato plants ("Beauregard" ) since those are planted in mounded up rows that have to be reconstructed every year with a shovel and rake.

Ancho peppers will go in tomorrow as will Kentucky Wonder pole beans. Cherry tomatoes, basil and parsley are doing well in half-barrels just off our deck.

I got dirty and had hardly a dry stitch on me when I quit for the day, but I enjoyed every minute of my labor. And, sitting on a log bench I made in the shade of a tree I planted with a tumbler of iced tea and just enough breeze to cool me off was the icing on today's cake.

This is the good stuff and I am fortunate to still be healthy enough to enjoy it.

[spinbaby]

1. I know that feeling

We’ve been cold and wet this spring, so I’ve been scrambling to catch up while trying to not do so much that I get too sore to move. About an hour a day of shoveling seems to be my limit.