sunday, 2/15

after a week of warm, sunny weather, it is hard to go back to the cold and grey days of  winter.  today, with very little sunshine, we worked on a few necessary projects.  first up was storm cleanup.  last wednesday's wind sent empty pots everywhere and i really mean everywhere. they were scattered from one end of the garden by the compost corral all the way to the rose garden and even out into the parking lot on the other side of the building.  next, darry gathered many sticks and branches that were littering the garden.  once that task was completed, darry spent his time raking up the straw in the vegetable garden.  my time was spent on my hands and knees, literally, as i spent two hours just weeding the walkways.  it is amazing how quickly weeds can sprout and multiply!

in this photo, the green tint in the areas beyond the sign are areas that still need weeding.  the lack of green in the foreground and the beds is due to all of the crawling around i did today.  as unpleasant as that sounds, the time passed quickly.  it was easy to fall into a rhythm and only occasionally did i snap out of my concentration.  the repeated calls of songbirds and the chimes from the nearby church clock tower were the only sounds we heard.  the demo garden is one of the most peaceful places to visit.

the vegetable garden is ready to be weeded and tilled.  the compost bin was relocated to this spot.  it was situated next to the big compost corral but visitors to the garden were using it for a trash can!