April 28, 2010

Thoughts of a Frustrated Gardener on a Cold April Day

It's one of those cold April days with strong winds so that I have a fire going and am staying inside. A day or so ago, I planted the peas and then it rained and now the cold has settled in which doesn't bode well for germination. That is especially true since I soaked the seeds first, thinking they would need the extra moisture and was wrong. It rained. So the seed may very well rot in the cold wet ground. It's happened before and since I going to town tomorrow I'll buy some more seed just in case.

It's always hard when the weather takes a step back into winter. I was all ready to continue the tilling and planting. I like to get the carrots in before it turns too hot. Here in the California mountains, spring often doesn't last long and suddenly it's summer and cool weather vegies won't germinate well and I've planted and replanted carrots. Now I'm sorry I didn't get them in the ground. I noticed some of the strawberry flowers had turned black at the center, a sign that frost had visited them. What to do on a day like this except sit and stare out the window at the windblown rose bush and hope for more sun tomorrow?

One of the things I did notice today was that the wildflowers that I planted around the new house had germinated and there were tiny flowers blooming. The Baby Blue eyes were particularly pretty.