Paradise, and countdown to spring

Reading Eat, Pray, Love, I learned that I live -- truly, technically, etymologically -- in a paradise, the word having both Iranian and Greek origins meaning essentially "walled garden." I love that. Without even knowing it, a paradise is pretty much what I've created here in my very tiny little downtown piece of the earth.

From dirt & dogs

Ever trying to carve out more space to grow food, I had a shade-creating tree cut down over the winter. After some serious lateral root removal, tilling and ammending which I'll start tackling this weekend, I'll have another 300 square feet of garden space that will now have FULL sun ALL day! I love the fact that I am surrounded by big, beautiful trees in my neighborhood but one does need some direct sun to have successful food crops.

Spring is coming. Really, it is. Technically, of course, Equinox is this weekend, but in practical terms, only the few cold hardy vegetables can be put in for another month or two. It's not until May that it's safe to put the entire garden in. Spring, as always, is coming in fits and starts -- false starts like the last three days of near 60 degree weather during which everyone on my route was blinded by my pasty white legs in shorts for the first time this year. But today it's back to rain/snow with expectations of below freezing temps for the next two or three nights. But more sunshine and warmth is on the way...eventually...which means it's time to start getting the garden ready! Bone meal, blood meal, compost, manure... followed by seeds for the early crops: broccoli raab, sweet peas, greens.

Soon -- very, very soon -- it will look like this:

early season, not yet the full, lush chaos that the garden always becomes:

From dirt & dogs

From dirt & dogs

Espaliered apricot tree in its third year:

From dirt & dogs

Zeek, green gage plum tree, black-eyed susans and strawberries:

From dirt & dogs