We finally had a deviation from the unusually damp and cool spring here, and I made good use of it. I’ve been dodging the showers as best I can, getting the garden plot ready for planting. Yesterday morning, I finished that task; and in the afternoon, the snolfs and I finally got the garden planted!

It’ll be very interesting to see how things grow—or not. The soil is good, but the grass and moss grow so thickly that it was very difficult to get all of it out of the freshly-upturned earth. Well, if I had gotten it all—as if I had the time and energy for such an undertaking!—the garden plot would be significantly below the surrounding soil level! I took out only the stuff that was obviously still growing or very big chunks, and tried to chop the remainder into smaller pieces to help aerate the soil.

I had originally intended to plan out the garden, in order to maximize space and take advantage of companion planting where possible, but my need to get the project done yesterday coupled with the snolfs’ enthusiasm for planting did away with that. Following Mama Liberty’s advice to “mix things up as much as possible” in order to confuse pests, we first planted the tomatoes and corn in their designated areas. Everything else was seeded in, around, and between them and their rows (on opposite sides of the plot) ... that “everything else” includes marigolds, which are good pest repellants and very pretty to boot. The only exception was that by the time we got to planting the viney things—melons, cucumbers, and squashes—I wasn’t sure if we had enough space left in the garden’s raised rows I’d created, so they were all mixed up across about a dozen hills at the southern end of the plot.

I have a strong suspicion that the marigolds, and a few other seeds the snolfs handled exclusively, will be clustered in odd spots in the plot—I did see a lot of cilantro seeds huddled together in one corner—but even spacing and careful placement was much less important to me than my children having fun and learning how to plant seeds. Dunno that all the seeds got planted to their proper depth, but again, it is as much a learning environment for them (and me—every garden provides opportunities for improving one’s skills, and gaining knowledge) as it will be a source of healthful pood for the entire family.

Oddly enough, none of the seed packets showed what the seedlings will look like once they emerge from the earth. So, other than the corn, tomatoes, and a couple of herbs that I’ve planted before, all the rest will be new to all of us. That’s gonna make weeding a challenge for a while!

That’s okay, though, because another large, long-term project rolled into my life yesterday as well. I’ll reveal more about it once I get some writing deadlines past me, and I acquire some “color, glossy photographs of the scene of the crime”.