Earthy.

Today the sun has been shining and the air is warm. A late afternoon cloud cover and thunderstorms are expected as the sun begins to go down. Wait... maybe a bit earlier - I just heard some thunder off in the distance.

This is perfectly timed as I just finished planting the remainder of my seeds and starts. I left a few sections of empty space in the veg beds in case I'm seized by the need to plant something else irresistible.

I'm hoping to figure out how to link to a document via Blogger so that you can see my planting plans. Here! Click on the photo below to see it a bit bigger!


Oh yes, on one particularly cold, rainy evening in April, I geeked out with the veg plans and drew up a map on Excel outlining spacing and location for each variety I hope to grow this summer. It was actually quite helpful since some things require more/less sun, and I took height and growth rate into consideration. This year will be a big leap from what we tried last year, and I hope that each season will offer many opportunities to learn learn learn.

Mike and I spent the afternoon planting two dwarf apple trees! We're excited to be planting trees in our yard and hope that we'll see a few Cortland and Macintosh apples for munching or baking or canning in a few years from now. At the moment, they're just two cute twigs sticking out of the ground. Our fingers are crossed that they grow up to be big(ish), strong trees that provide a little more shade for the patio and some enjoyment for our tastebuds.

We also staked and fenced in the last few vegetable beds... a necessity if I want to see all of that hard planting work come to fruition! The bunnies around here are cute, but we sing the song "John the Rabbit" with a whole new tone these days. Let's just say that the bunnies and I have had a few encounters in the early evening when they come out to look for little bunny hors d'oeuvres prior to their bunny dinners. Sweet, green seedling leaves seem to be a favorite.

The sheets that were drying in the breeze have been brought inside, and I can still hear families riding by on afternoon bike rides. Christopher is VERY into bike rides, by the way. That and going for runs with Daddy in the mornings in BOB. For both of these actitivies, he can be heard egging on the driver with, "Faster, Mama/Daddy!"

Spring. Truly.

Last night we woke up at 4am because the thunder outside of our windows was SO LOUD. The rain and lightning were equally impressive. I love a good thunder storm - as long as it doesn't get my basement sopping wet - and it reminds me of the summers I spent playing in Charlottesville.

The season has definitively turned and now we even have humidity to grouse about(!). The last few days have brought us up into the high 70s and 80s and so we've been out for bike rides, picnic lunches, park play, and even a Christopher-Mama date at the zoo. Highlights of our zoo outing included the giraffes, the rhinoceroses, and the seagulls who kept trying to get a nibble of our lunch.

The farmer's market opened up last Saturday with an abundance of plants and mostly root and winter vegetables. Not to worry, it will be spilling over with a huge array in just a few weeks. I bought some grilling cheese made in Wisconsin which looks similar to Halloumi, and a big bag of spinach. There's a new midweek market that will be happening up in our neighborhood this year. I'm looking forward to going to that one via bicycle.

I love seeing naked toddler legs running around the house - and Christopher is thrilled when he's only clad in a diaper. It's hard to argue with that outfit since he's so darn cute AND it provides easy access for kisses on the knees, the arms, the neck and all other edible parts of his cute self.

Upcoming projects for the garden include constructing a compost bin made of pallets from Mike's lab deliveries, building planter boxes for the patio, and finishing the vegetable beds (dirt/markers/seeds and starts!).

My latest thrill: a long, flat-head screwdriver makes the perfect dandelion weeding tool. Thank you, to the internet for that tip. Clearly, I thrill easily. If I had 2 acres, I'd let a whole patch of yard go crazy with dandelions and then hack them back to eat them... but alas, we live in suburbia and our front yard was looking rather... weedy.

And now... since the lawns are mowed and the dandelions are plucked... I'm going to down several glasses of ice water and see if there's a new Modern Family on hulu.com!

Happy day, y'all.