Lovely Afternoon Light for Pea Planting with the Farm Dog

DSC_3963And so it all begins. The outdoor work, I mean. There is daylight enough for me to sneak in some garden time before a late supper, after I release myself from the office and the computer and the deadlines imposed by more travel coming.

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Farmer and I spent a lovely hour or two in the leaf-strewn garden (the leaves were our winter mulch for the beds) planting peas and moving a few odd winter greens around.

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We dawdled in the hoop house, too, finally warm and dreamy after days of cloud cover and chilling winds. Farmer is an excellent garden companion.

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Naturally I brought my camera along, mostly because I find it so interesting to look back at the stark reality of early April when August comes around. And vice-versa—I’ve been deep into my photo archives this week putting together three different Power Point presentations. Looking at all those pints of cherry tomatoes and bunches of zinnias not only reminds me that we do actually manage to grow a lot of food, but that warm (truly warm) days will come again.

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On an early April day, objects that will later fade into the summer collage now pop out in relief.

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DSC_3939DSC_3990 Even not-so-pretty objects look better in early spring.

I could do without the constant fiddling with Remay (the fabric row cover that keeps pests and a little bit of chill off early greens) this time of year, but getting my boots tangled up in it and stabbing myself occasionally with the fabric staples (in the very top photo) is surely a whole lot better than being inside staring at frozen, snow-speckled ground. If early April is what I’ve got, I’ll take it!

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4 thoughts on “Lovely Afternoon Light for Pea Planting with the Farm Dog”

  1. Hello ~ interesting to see ‘pastured eggs’ on your post – don’t think we Down Under use that very clear term – it seems to go fom ‘barn-laid’ to ‘organic’ and the latter meaning is none too clear. Love to see your peas go down – you seem to plant them quite close: do you ‘thin’ after or just let them grow rampant? Oh, hi Farmer . . . big back rub 🙂 !!

  2. Hi Eha. Yes “pastured eggs” is pretty specific if you think about it–it means the hens are out on pasture! Of course the pasture is not green year-round, but they are out there every day! Yes, I plant my peas close, always intending to thin them and never doing so. I always wind up getting great yields and the plants don’t seem to suffer (that I know of, anyway!) theoretically, one should eat the thinnings!

  3. Gorgeous pictures, Susie… though it’s hard to complain about a sunny day in San Francisco, you brought me back to early Spring in New England and made me wish I was there!

  4. Hi Danielle and thank you–well it was the first sunny day in a while, but I’ll be even happier when the daffodils come up….and the leaves on the trees are a long way away! So enjoy SF for now!!

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