Tuesday Twitterdeedum

I have discovered a good reason for us to still be wearing several layers of clothing in late April. This may be applicable for only this year, however. We had those two warm days last week, and a bunch of colorful blossoms popped out----daffodils, hyacinths, forsythia, even iddy biddy purple violets.

Well, ever since, it's been too damn cold for them to do anything but sit on their stems and look pretty. I have rather enjoyed the long visit of the spring blossoms, especially cuz they're such a lovely contrast against the deep, green lawn carpet so I'll not complain too much about having to bundle up to go outside.

I've mowed only once, so there's a plus too.

Some years blossoms last all of one day and lawn mowings occur almost every other day for those first few weeks. And, need I say anything about the dandelion delay. Only Pat Gooby would complain about that cuz he proclaimed himself dandylion king several years ago. He likes dandylions. I don't.

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I stuck at it throughout the day, and I've got the sore hands to prove that strawberry weeding does take time. Approximately 97 spears of grass remain attached to their berry friends out there in the patch, but I made progress yesterday.

Visitors can now stroll past my berries and know what's growing in there. Plus, I separated a lot of the entangled roots systems and extended the plot.

Maybe today I'll be able to remove the remaining grass and then smile upon a very difficult job finally done. And, maybe in June and July we'll have more berries than usual.

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I planted potatoes in the manure pile yesterday, lots of them. This year's experiment in using the manure pile for as much garden as possible will be interesting to monitor.

I know from experience that cantaloupe grow very well in manure piles, so I've decided to extend the possibilities. This year, the cucumbers, water melon, potatoes, cantaloupe and squash will occupy space on those mounds.

It will be fun to see how each item grows and more fun to enjoy the results.

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Speaking of results, Bill and I enjoyed another spinach, lettuce, kale, egg and bacon salad last night. The first three came from my greenhouse pots, while eggs and bacon came from the store. Then, however, I experimented with a honey mustard dressing, concocted in the kitchen, and it wasn't half bad, plus a lot less expensive than store bought.

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Yesterday was a tractor day too. When you finally reach a stage in life where you have a tractor of your own---in our case, we have two now----and nobody's looking at you with skepticism cuz you don't know tractors---and you can go out there, fire it up and go farm---that's a good place to be in life.

Since the fabled day in my youth when I got my dad's tractor (probably the one we now own) partially impaled on the barnyard gate after I came too close with the side-delivery hay mower, I haven't been trusted with tractors. But I've come of age, and so has that tractor. It lived through my youthful recklessness, and it now resides here at the Lovestead.

Yesterday, I hooked up the harrow, which Bill had laid out nicely in the field, and started dragging the pastures. For those who are not farmers, dragging the fields means that you redistribute the wealth. Instead of solid horse piles dotting the field, you have tiny morsals of those original piles scattered throughout the field for fertilizing purposes.

Plus, the grass underneath those piles that have sat all winter snuffing it off gets to have a chance to grow again. In the pasture closest to the house, I never did get that leaf pile fully burned last fall, so today the leaves are distributed throughout the field.

I love sitting aboard a tractor, with the breeze blowing in my face and panorama of infinite beauty surrounding me as I go round and round and the harrow does its work with those metal teeth.

I started the hayfield late yesterday afternoon, but the old Ford ran out of gas after the first round. Bill filled it up after dinner and harrowed a section of his own. Today he's hooked up the Kubota cuz it's got diesel, which lasts longer than gas, so I'll finish the hayfield sometime today.

No better feeling than finally driving a tractor with the long-awaited liberation of legality and a true sense of purpose.

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I was going to talk about the swine flu, but it seems that everyone is talking about the swine flu, so I'll spare you of my thoughts on that and my thoughts on how it seems to me the media needs another "big" story to pounce on before it scares the whole world to death----much sooner than the swine flu could do.

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Enough. Have a great Tuesday. I'll be out farming.