June 8, 2008

Well, I must say, exhaustion has kicked it up to another level.  Cramming an entire to-do list into half a day will do that to you.  Today was the only dry and partially sunny day we've had in weeks and likely the only one we'll have until mid to late next week.  So I wanted to get as much done as possible. 

Unfortunately (though not so unfortunate) my wife wanted to run some errands today as a family, which was fun. But by the time we got back it was 2.  The only thing I got done before the family outing was to spray the garden down with Spinosad.  Let's hope the buggers are active before the weather turns sometime late tonight or tomorrow. 

I needed to cut back a tree in the front yard on city orders.  The city left me a nice note on the door saying I needed to cut back the low branches so they were at least 8 feet over the sidewalk.  I could have sworn they were, but oh well.  So I broke out the chainsaw and ladder and my brother, father and I trimmed back the tree.  Then the promptly left, leaving me the truck so I could go get my compost.  I was racing the clock (it was 4 by then) and I had a ton to do.  When I got back I convinced my wife to bring the kids out and help hold the bags while I shoveled my Mel's Mix into old vermiculite bags to save for later.  The kids were a pain because they wanted to help but couldn't and then wanted to play where they shouldn't (the front yard's dangerous).  When we filled up all the old bags I've saved, she took a break to go feed the kids and put them to bed while I burried the potato bins.



As you can see by this picture and the one from yesterday, I had a ton to burry.  Oh yeah, I also added a board to both bins because it was way over due. Darn this rain. This stuff should have happened a while ago.

So here's what one bin looks like post burrying.  Unfortunately I may have lost a stem.  It sure is hard to only burry what you want in these bins.



Unforunately I didn't have my phone when I started the mixing or shoveling.  But here's a pick of the near finished task.



Look familiar, well I had deja vu over doing this four months ago when I built my beds.  This time it was just my wife and I and it was only 3/4 yard of combined material.  I didn't use much peat moss to save money as the compost and vermiculite cost me $100.  To get a magnitude of how much we got out of it, the pic above is about what I put into the bins. Here's what I've got left...



By the time I got the truck and drive way cleaned up, the light had started to leave us, so mowing alas won't get done today.  And if my nifty personal weather forecaster sitting next to the computer is right (it seems to be) we're getting rain within the next 12 to 24 hours.  Grrr.  I hate this weather.  Can't we have a real June?  Hopefully I'll be able to get the lawn mowed before next weekend.

Enjoy your garden!