GARDEN PLANTING KICKOFF

This morning, while the coffee was perking, I checked on my seedlings and was very pleased to see that quite a bit more have stuck their heads out of the potting soil and are stretching themselves to get the kinks out and unfurl their tender leaves … kinda like newborn babies :-D

Veggie sprouts from atop the kitchen Baker’s rack: Collards & Cabbages.

Wa Wa Tsai was the first to break through the other day, (https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2019/04/sets-sprouts.html), so they are a little sturdier; and I turned their pots this morning to keep their trunks straight while they reach for the warm sunlight from the skylight above.

And in the livingroom, where seedlings are misted and kept cozy in front of the sunny windows in a plastic bin atop an old long coffee table hoarded specifically for this purpose, the flower seedlings are also waking up and unfurling in the warm sun rays that spill through the windows and urge them to “Hurry and outgrow that incubator so you can get outside where you will be much happier!” …

Bonanza Marigolds - following picture is what they will look like when they mature outside. Marigolds are such peppy little flowers ...

Colossus Marigolds & Bachelor Buttons coming up: I seeded the blue Bachelor Buttons only this year because I will interplant them with colorful Whiligig Zinnias

Colossus Marigold - I never have too many marigolds ;-)

Bachelor Buttons

Sprouting Whirligig Zinnias

Don’t you agree these colorful Whirligig Zinnia ladies will look real nice interplanted with the blue Bachelors?

Xanthos Cosmos waking up

Pale Yellow Xanthos Cosmos – when the pink cosmos decides to sprout and grow, these 2 will be interplanted: I think they will complement each other ;-)

After the coffee perked and the seedlings were misted to keep them happy in their warm environments, I drank a quick cup of coffee and ran to the back bedroom to hastily throw something on to garden in. As I was walking out of the bedroom, I caught a glimpse of Bob’s cap atop his cremains box on the dresser, and decided on the spur of the moment to put it on and wear it while I worked outside; he always wore it and I wanted a part of him with me today when the sunshine is beckoning and I will be breaking soil. I always get excited on the first day of actual gardening and Bob always got a kick out of my excitement.

I wanted him with me today – and his cap was a small way of having his presence with me …

I know what I look like – I was never beautiful; I will never be beautiful – and that is okay with me. I am comfortable in my own skin. Bob thought I was beautiful and always told me he thought I was beautiful: that is good enough for me. His opinion is the only one that maters to me.

(https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2019/01/if.html)

I have baby-fine hair which does not have much volume to it no matter what marketers say their products can/will do to beef up fine hair. My pathetic graying ponytail was pulled through the back of Bob's Cap - it’s gonna be warm being active  outside and I don’t want it sticking to my neck. And the cap settles on my head better too with it like this.

Dressed and ready to get dirty :-D Let’s do this Babe!

Yay! Yellow, Red, & White Onion sets in place. I hope I left enough space behind the back rows for the cosmos’ to be put in place next month.

Shelling & Stir-fry Peas planted. I steadied my cute light-weight trellis’ in the garden box with wooden garden stakes secured to their ends with baling wire and pushed snugly into the soil – thanks Babe for patiently showing me how to use baling wire when I had my little homestead setup on Merritt Drive 10 years ago ;-) Hopefully today's trellis setup will withstand the gusty river winds that blow through here.

Violets freely reseed, so my garden boxes and the river rock in back of the house was running wild with blooming violets. I don’t want violets eating up vegetable space in my garden boxes, so I transplanted several of them to my Patio Apple Tree containers. They look well together; and the violets can always be removed if they start hindering the trees. God knows, there is no shortage of violets. LOL

And that is all we did today; these things I know can withstand a surprise hail storm and fluctuating Spring temperatures. I will get the rest in when the weather is more stable. There was quite a bit of pollen on the breeze while I dinked around in my garden area; I have environmental asthma and I can get a little breathless with heavy air pollutants - like whipped up pollen, which is great for things that need pollinated ... it just isn't so good for me when my lungs get irritated and inflamed. But I am not going to stop gardening! Gardening comforts me; and I need a LOT of comfort in my life since Bob graduated from Earth to Heaven.

For right now, the onions are keeping me hopping - every time I look out the window I see one or two lying down on the job >;-P As the soil warms, the onions pop out of place and fall over, so I have been constantly going outside to lovingly scold them and put them back in place.

If my sprouting seedling are like newborn babies ... onion sets are like unruly toddlers.

And both will keep this 62 year old widowed granny busy for awhile before they can stand on their own :-D

I need busy right now.

I accept the challenge ;-)