Today’s downpour courteous Tropical Storm Andrea is yet another example of the unexpected typical weather patterns we have had this year. Over the past week the temperatures have varied from the low 40s to the mid 90s. We went from no rain for 10 days to 6 inches in one. It continues to amaze me how well the plants cope with these changes, though in New England you need to be a bit of a daredevil to plant anything that is finicky. The only plant we have that somewhat falls into that category is a fig tree I planted for Juana last year. After unwrapping it in late April, it sat barren of leaves or buds looking as if it would remain in skeleton form for the remainder of the season.
With the warmer and wetter weather of a few weeks ago it started to bud and leaf out showing perhaps enough life to give us at least the dozen or so figs we harvested last year. This reflection comes after a week of intense catch up where I must have sweated off five pounds while working in 90 degree plus weather. Today is raining and in the low 50s; I’m temped to build a fire. This year’s gardening has come in fits and starts as extreme swings in moisture and temperature have made working in the yard a purely opportunistic rather than a lifestyle exercise.
In the last week I transplanted over 200 flowers and vegetables, designed a series of raised bed herbal gardens for Ann’s Place, picked up and ordered herbs for this month’s classes and activities, netted my blueberry, blackberry and strawberry plants, watered all gardens, weeded the back 40, re-graveled one of the gardens with nearly a yard of stone, mowed and week whacked the lawn and grounds, deadheaded the tulips and daffodils, removed and transplanted buckets of day lilies, etc.
It’s been a busy week.
This isn’t the way I prefer to garden as it is something I like to fall into daily. After I wake up, I prefer to figure out what I want to do in the garden; this spring it has been more of waking up and deciding what I need to do before the next weather event hits as would a farmer or someone who makes his or her living at horticulture. This year, my first crop of radishes failed miserably as alternating hot and cold, dry and wet weather eliminated any possibility of germination. Good thing Stop & Shop sells radishes. The second crop came in like gangbusters and we have just finished the last radish and expect to harvest the next crop in the next week or two. Last year I waited too long to net the blueberries, so I lost at least half the crop to hungry birds; this year I shouldn’t have that kind of loss.
This work and rain, however, has given us a lush garden to enjoy. I need to replace some fencing but have put off that chore as vines and ferns have enveloped sections of the fence creating a thick tapestry that needs to be hacked away or die off.
I think I’ll wait for it to die.
