Last evening as I walked through the garden, I couldn't help but notice how saturated the ground was. Not just a little water, this latest round of rain yesterday will need sun and dry day's to make the soil workable again. Have you tried to pull weeds in soil that is too wet, with roots clinging to the soil, impossible to shake off? The reality is we are sun starved here in the NW, we've had 4 and a half days of blue sky in the last 2 months. I know because I've been counting them, 3 of those days happened to fall on the weekend when I was at work, which was nice because I work outdoors, but I also longed to be in my garden in the sun.
This is the second spring in a row being this wet and cold, the spring of 2009 I remember was beautiful. The temperature now is around 42 degrees at night and warms up to around 51 during the day, this has gone on for months with grey clouds and rain. I know I shouldn't complain, we don't have tornadoes, we haven't gone through an earthquake, and we're not experiencing a flood or a drought. I am thankful for many things about the Northwest, and know our best months July, Aug, Sept, and Oct are coming up. I am using this blog as kind of a garden journal, so I wanted to make notes to myself for future years, not to get too excited about planting anything too early. Most things need to wait until mid May to plant, or they'll just sit and linger.
On a positive note, last week we were given a nice big frame for a greenhouse from the owner of the nursery where I work. It came with the property when she bought it 12 years ago, and has just been sitting, because it's so huge and takes someone who knows how to set it all up. Well my husband happens to know how to figure these kinds of dilemmas out, he'll just pour a concrete form and set the steel in place, frame up the ends and we'll get plastic to cover it, voila', a greenhouse. I'm exaggerating, it's not quite that simple. I am so excited to get it all set up for this winter. Not sure what the measurements are but he said it was huge. I will be able to garden year round, can you imagine that?
After gardening here in the Northwest for 21 years, a greenhouse is what every gardener dreams of. I am going to set it up with a patio and a table and chairs, so we can enjoy the warmth it will bring during cool Springs. This will also enable me to grow the warmer season crops like tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. We're all looking forward to a Meyer lemon tree planted at one end too, and will fill the rest throughout the winter months with fresh greens, broccoli, carrots, beets, etc. Who knows it may also double as a place to raise chicks in the early spring too.
Yesterday I went to the 3rd track meet of the season for my daughter Tessa, every single one has been cold and rainy. We're due for some sun!! I heard the weather this morning and they're calling for sun mixed with rain today, and they say "SUN" for Friday and Saturday. If it's out today or tomorrow, I'm going to take at least an hour and just go lay on the trampoline and soak up some vitamin D.
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