Reincarnation

Ah, Spring! The time when I finally look at the black, moldy skeletons of last year's tomato plants and think "Huh...what are those still doing there?" And eventually, I even pull them out and start thinking about planting again.

This year, I was even on the ball with all this stuff. I even went to a clinic on how to grow tomatoes. I probably got snowed into buying all kinds of stuff I don't really need, but at least it'll be fun to find out. Who knows? Maybe I'll have a huge crop of colorful tomatoes this year and I'll be eternally grateful to tomato guru, Steve Goto.

But first, I set Daddy to work doing some soil amending and I went to work on my compost bin. I've found the easiest way to deal with my inferior compost bin is to just take the whole bin off the pile.Wow. Full of slugs and sow bugs and worms this year! I'll take it as a good sign that all those critters want to feast in there.

But then I have to sift the whole goopy pile to get out all the solid bits and come up with some really awesome compost-y dirt.And finally, I got to plant the five baby tomato plants I'd picked out a few days earlier...and a few other veggies as well. I got some monster tomato cages. Maybe I'm being too optimistic!The yard is finally back to looking like someone cares about it. I forget how happy this whole thing makes me...and how sore! Gardening ought to be an Olympic event.One last gardening note. I was really bummed to have to cut down our ailing plum and loquat trees last summer. But in January Daddy planted a little 3-variety apple tree in their place. I watched and watched as spring began, but there were no signs of leaves, much less blossoms. So, you can imagine how thrilled I was to see the first green buds. And now?Yay!!