Our own Peter Cottontail:

Taken from my vantage point at the kitchen window. I seem to be doing a lot of that lately.

Signs of spring, though so much later this year than last: tiny little sugar maple leaves. Please get big and green before I have to leave.

When it hasn’t been raining, I’ve been grabbing whatever time I can to work in the garden. I’m under a deadline here and am frustrated by a combination of unseasonably cold weather and lots of rain. I put in a new garden bed on Sunday. Oh my aching back! And it might just be a silly thing to do since I am:

a. leaving for 7 weeks in a little over a week and a half
b. don’t have a lot of extra cash (in fact, none) to spend on plants
c. will have to rely on husband to water any new additions.

What was I thinking? I’ve had this idea in my head for over a year and, quite frankly, if I wait until a time where I’m actually here in the spring, it might never happen. So I did it. I used a method I’ve read about online and that you might find helpful. After figuring out the dimensions of the bed, I covered the entire area with stacks of newspapers  (black and white – no color). Then I covered the newspapers with top soil. A little way into the process, I ran out of top soil and I didn’t want to stop to buy some more. So I used some leftover mulch. Then I used the garden hose and wet (wetted?) it all down. Fast forward about 2 weeks and I was able to easily remove the grass. It came right up. Quick and easy! Yesterday I added top soil.

I’ll have to put most of the plants in when I get back in mid-June. I still have to fill the planters and window boxes with impatiens, etc. And I have to mulch. The rest will have to wait until I get back.

Today is rainy. Big surprise. I guess I’ll have to start packing boxes to ship to Wisconsin.

Did I tell you I’m sick of packing?

You have no idea.