Gardening 2020 at the Lovestead officially started yesterday.
From now until it's greenhouse time, the garden window and the area around the sliding glass door and maybe even part of the garden enclosure itself will serve as starter patches for flowers and veggies.
I've managed to purchase several packets of seeds, some potting soil and even some planting trays.
Yesterday I took the lazy route and bought three trays, even though I have a good supply in the greenhouse.
Snow around the greenhouse is hard-packed, and I wasn't in a mood to chip away at the snow around its door.
So, it was off to Home Depot for the trays and back home to the Chevy truck tailgate. Bill had taken my usual gardening white pickup and tailgate off to Ginter property for snow shoeing.
So, I backed the new truck out of its spot and parked it in the sun. After all, nobody wants to plant seed in the frigid shade.
My planting operation had just started when I could hear something that sounded like metal rubbing on metal, only softer.
After listening for a minute or two and trying to deduce from whence this sound was coming, I saw what was causing the noise.
Lefty stood in the barnyard in total bliss as a curled-up wad of thin electric wire dangled and clanged from his lips, with help from occasional but relaxed head bobbing.
In one of the many moments of winter barnyard boredom, he had apparently worked at the wire long enough that it separated from the fence. Not a great toy for a horse.
"NO!" I yelled while abandoning my gardening project and walking toward the barnyard gate to retrieve the wire, lest Lefty tried to eat it.
So, Gardening 2020 got off to a start somewhat reminiscent of last night's Iowa caucuses.
Fortunate for me, back in my own private Idaho, I was able to fix the problem quickly and without an APP.
If this relative nice weather continues, I'm planning to walk the barnyard fenceline with fence pliers and wire and do some fixit work.
When it's all done, one day with the fence charger going should take care of electric wire play time for a while. After all, when the electric fence doesn't work, that opens the door to eating the fence.
Meanwhile back at the tailgate/work bench, I actually got lost in my work of pouring in potting soil, tidying up the boxes and then meticulously dropping three kinds of 'mater seeds, a row of lettuce, several pods of petunias and a few rows of African violets.
Two trays now sit in the kitchen garden window. With luck, more will join them today, and I'll set up the card table next to the sliding glass door for more.
I'm also thinking of trying a few containers of winter seeds, as explained in the Spokesman piece which appeared in Sunday's paper.
We have lots of Kirkland clear candy and pretzel containers from Costco, so I'll throw in some seeds in several and place them out in the garden spot.
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/feb/01/in-the-garden-give-seeds-a-cold-start/
Words are inadequate for describing the renewed sense of life that comes with planting seeds. So, I won't even try.
I do know many, many others who share this mid-winter exhilaration. So, no description necessary.
It's an intangible that takes over every year at this time, and then it's a tangible that creates a lot of clutter and residue in the house as we spray those pots with water and keep checking them several times a day to see the first baby plant pop out of the soil.
Tomatoes are best for creating instant gratification.
Those petunias are gonna take a while to show up, but once they get their start, visions of how pretty all those pinks and white and purples are gonna be around the deck and in the pots awakens a sense of exciting adrenalin.
And, so Gardening 2020 has begun.
Chapter one will take a while as I decide just what I want to plant and where to put it, but then comes Chapter 2 when the black trays come alive with various accents of green and, eventually, even some other vibrant colors.
Bill also brought out some of his favorite tools yesterday and took care of some limbs on our beautiful Scotch pine tree in the front yard.
Heavy snow pressing them to ground had caused them to break but remain attached. So, he took his chain saw, separated them and dragged the limbs off to the woods.
Happily, the absence of those limbs has not caused the tree to lose its charm and beauty.
These beautiful, crisp, dry February days have definitely provided therapy for our weary winter souls.
This morning when I could see the outline of the Cabinet Mountains out my upstairs window shortly before 6, I realized we are on our way into brighter, more productive days from now on, and that is good.
Hibernation phase has ended and the outdoor "to do" lists have begun.
Love it.
One last item: we have embraced technology in our lives. When it doesn't work, impatience and grousing and moaning takes over.
It's kinda like North Idaho weather, our negative behavior instantly turns glowing when the sun shines OR when the broken technology begins to work again.
So, this morning, I'm sending a shout-out to the folks associated with AT&T for their efforts in repairing the cell tower at Schweitzer.
For the past five days, the damage curtailed cell phone usage for residents in Ponderay, Selle Valley, Kootenai, Sunnyside and Hope.
Twas obvious all the sudden last evening that the tower is back up and running.
Our phones started working again, and we are thrilled.
Thank you.
Maybe the same spirit of appreciation will happen in Iowa when the technology glitch gets fixed and the winner of the caucus is named.
As my daughter put in a Twitter post overnight, whoever wins or loses, be kind to each other.
Happy Tuesday.
Words are inadequate for describing the renewed sense of life that comes with planting seeds. So, I won't even try.
I do know many, many others who share this mid-winter exhilaration. So, no description necessary.
It's an intangible that takes over every year at this time, and then it's a tangible that creates a lot of clutter and residue in the house as we spray those pots with water and keep checking them several times a day to see the first baby plant pop out of the soil.
Tomatoes are best for creating instant gratification.
Those petunias are gonna take a while to show up, but once they get their start, visions of how pretty all those pinks and white and purples are gonna be around the deck and in the pots awakens a sense of exciting adrenalin.
And, so Gardening 2020 has begun.
Chapter one will take a while as I decide just what I want to plant and where to put it, but then comes Chapter 2 when the black trays come alive with various accents of green and, eventually, even some other vibrant colors.
Bill also brought out some of his favorite tools yesterday and took care of some limbs on our beautiful Scotch pine tree in the front yard.
Heavy snow pressing them to ground had caused them to break but remain attached. So, he took his chain saw, separated them and dragged the limbs off to the woods.
Happily, the absence of those limbs has not caused the tree to lose its charm and beauty.
These beautiful, crisp, dry February days have definitely provided therapy for our weary winter souls.
This morning when I could see the outline of the Cabinet Mountains out my upstairs window shortly before 6, I realized we are on our way into brighter, more productive days from now on, and that is good.
Hibernation phase has ended and the outdoor "to do" lists have begun.
Love it.
One last item: we have embraced technology in our lives. When it doesn't work, impatience and grousing and moaning takes over.
It's kinda like North Idaho weather, our negative behavior instantly turns glowing when the sun shines OR when the broken technology begins to work again.
So, this morning, I'm sending a shout-out to the folks associated with AT&T for their efforts in repairing the cell tower at Schweitzer.
For the past five days, the damage curtailed cell phone usage for residents in Ponderay, Selle Valley, Kootenai, Sunnyside and Hope.
Twas obvious all the sudden last evening that the tower is back up and running.
Our phones started working again, and we are thrilled.
Thank you.
Maybe the same spirit of appreciation will happen in Iowa when the technology glitch gets fixed and the winner of the caucus is named.
As my daughter put in a Twitter post overnight, whoever wins or loses, be kind to each other.
Happy Tuesday.
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