This has been the strangest winter...the snow falls rarely and when the ground is blanketed even with a few inches, it's all gone within days as the temperatures rise again into the 40s. It was in the mid-40s today and it will be over 50 degrees tomorrow....craziness! By the end of February, even in the worst of winters, one is itching to see signs of spring, but when one is perpetually on the verge of spring....well, every day is like a tease. I'm really starting to think about that perennial bed in the back of the house on the edge overlooking the river.....this one....
What a mess!! I'm determined that this year we'll use it to grow "crops"....obviously, I use that term quite loosely, since it's quite a tiny space and we're not farmers. We've had good luck with squash and pumpkins, some luck with tomatoes and blue potatoes and little luck with leeks. Oh, and absolutely no luck with watermelons. Each year we learn a little more and want to expand our edibles to include peppers, carrots, chard and any number of other possibilities. We were going to take over this bed last summer for this purpose, but as anyone who has followed this blog since then knows...last summer took us by surprise with a tense time of watching the Missouri River waters rise way beyond flood stage. This summer should be quite a bit calmer, so I'm eagerly anticipating getting out there to move all those perennials and give them a new start in other beds around the house. But, it's still February....I have to wait.....winter could still arrive with a big wall of snow!
The reminders of last summer's flood are ever present. There is an incredible sandbar in front of our property that goes on for probably half a mile up the river....massive. There used to be small sandbars scattered here and there in the river and they changed almost daily, but this thing is so huge it doesn't seem to be going anywhere. And just down the river, there is that big tree limb visible, no doubt stuck in a big pile of sand lurking underneath. When I photographed the bed in the back this evening just as the sun was setting, I peeked over the edge of the neighbor's property and was once again reminded of the huge sand deposits that seem to be everywhere, this one complete with overturned plastic red lawn chair!
And the dailies continue....details and other views of these pieces at MissouriBendMusings....or click on the links to each day's drawing...
Enjoy the rest of your week....spring is just around the corner!!
So many gardening options! In the next few weeks, I'll be thinking about doing things in my garden. This is always the time the studio calls me with new ideas. I backslide on the garden and head to the studio. After all, many of those weeds look quite nice until they go to seed.
ReplyDeleteStill loving your joyful little drawings!
Here's wishing your garden plants and vegetables look just as good as those pictures on the seed packets!
Hi Kim....the seed packets....maybe I should just stick those pictures on top of some tall stakes and enjoy the garden from afar!! My garden never looks that good....and I know I'll start breaking out in some rash about as soon as I start getting into it....chiggers, poison ivy, you name it....I too will end up back in the studio! I'm hoping to maintain the energy to get things well underway and beat the weeds at their game....but yes, they do look pretty good for a while!
ReplyDeleteHere in Vermont everyone is talking about the weird weather too - one can't have a proper hankering for spring when winter never sticks around long enough to overstay its welcome! Even the animals seem to have skipped their usual hibernations and migrations. But here too reminders of last summer's flooding give us one thing to be grateful for: the same conditions that caused rivers to overflow then will be blessedly absent this year. All the best to you!
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