February 13, 2019
It looks like the weather forecast is not synchronized with my spring garden transplanting time. My starts are ready to go because they have stopped growing. They aren't as tall as previous years but are more bushy and squat. I think the Miracle Gro got leached out by the rain. It's was at 0.03% of NPK and the bag recommended replanting in Miracle Gro potting soil when the second set of leaves appeared. I didn't do that and they stopped growing, so maybe they ran out of food..
The weather includes rain showers and snow showers through President's day, which is about the time I should be done. I'm really glad to have a greenhouse to duck into when inclement weather hits, the sound of rain on the roof may be something that's appreciated more by us older, enlightened ones. We've learned to call daydreaming meditation and get to feel righteous about just sitting and doing nothing. Those old codgers sitting in front of the courthouse aren't even pretending to meditate. They're just gossiping..
February 14, 2019
I've got lots of overwintered beets and carrots this year because my wife decided to go on a Keto diet. They are not welcome in the kitchen but are making the garden look more productive. I should clear them out to make room for spring planting but the rain has soaked the soil again and I shouldn't even be walking in there. I'm leaving my tray of starts out at night when the temperature is forecasted above freezing because they need cold temp acclimation..
They might not be able to take a hard freeze right out of the warm house. They won't get transplanted out until the ground dries out some. Now that the chard is protected from the birds it's ready for another picking, but the birds have started in on the kale :(..
February 22, 2019
Not much gardening is getting done on these rainy days but I'm beginning to learn that it's not about how much you get done, but about how much you enjoy what you get done. Simple tasks squeezed in between rain squalls add up to a feeling of accomplishment, even though much of the time you've been sitting in the greenhouse. The winter garden has taken on a different kind of enjoyment for me this year, it's emptyness in harmony with a perfection that I'm learning to recognize. The mounds, hills and planting patches are full of potential, and I'm not yearning to fill them up yet. They are fine just the way they are..
The garden is still, just the way I should be. It is the time of the season. Introspection should lead to peacefulness, and peacefulness to kindness..
