Ready or Not

My very own Reliance Peach about to bloom.

My yard seems convinced that spring has sprung.

I'm ready and not ready.

Every tree and shrub has broken dormancy, except the Hardy Kiwi which may not have survived the winter...I feel a mix of relief and mild consternation at that prospect...same thing with the peach tree. It's blooming a little early and rain is forecast for the next ten days. Rain means fewer insects buzzing about to pollinate. If pollination is terrible and I get no peaches, then I won't have to worry about spraying for brown rot fungus or fighting off the squirrels. So, I guess I'm okay with whatever happens. That's good, right?

Preparations for Real Reason farm are thoroughly underway. Over 700 seedlings under the grow lights:

Spinach seedlings

I've got cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, leaf lettuce, head lettuce, carrots, baby carrots, cylindra beets, celery, 9 varieties of tomatoes, parsley, giant zinnias, 2 varieties of marigolds, and snapdragons (yeah!) growing. My broccoli seed was WAY too old though, and the ones that did manage to germinate now look like franken-sprouts. Hideously malformed and unnatural. Bummer. Still holding on to the franken-sprouts, though, cuz' I love broccoli more than I should. Guess I'll have to grow a few more brussels sprouts to fill in the gaps.

Found this hibernating toad when I pulled back the straw from my strawberry patch. Had to relocate him/her carefully. 

I started to prep the garden beds in the backyard and discovered that it took 2 hours of hard labor to double dig just 16 sqft of garden bed. At that rate, I'll need about 40 man hours to finish the backyard beds (300sqft) and 120 more man hours to finish the Orchard Downs plot (900sqft). It's a lot for one person with a full-time job already, but I don't feel discouraged quite yet. I've got a plan to recruit some interns or pay teenagers or lower my double digging expectations for this year. Maybe all three.

See that fluffy brown mound of dirt next to the wheelbarrow? That's ALL I managed to accomplish in 2 hours. So much more to go! Bonus points for spotting the wayward chicken.

So, I feel like the plants are on schedule, but the ground needs a lot more work. Can't do any ground work while it's raining. Working muddy soil ruins the soil structure and creates a cemented mess instead of light, fluffy garden beds. Gotta wait. Still have a little time. 2-3 weeks until the first round of plants NEED to get into the garden. Fingers crossed. Close eye on the weather.

I'll leave you with this little beauty from our recent Spring Break trip to Peoria. Alice was at a friend's house while Bobby and I took the boys to see the sights. Here they are at the Caterpillar Visitor's Center:

Loved this place!