Catch-Up!

In the garden, I've added another square each of cornsalad and spring onions. The original squares seem to be growing, but VERY slowly.

I had to cover the garden last night--temps here in Crofton were heading down to 31F. Tonight is supposed to stay in the low 40's.

I also have a tray of tomatos and carrot seedlings going great guns.

I've been digging out the stones in the bed along the fence, as I said I was going to...I've pulled about 2 GALLONS of stones out of about 6 cubic feet of soil. That means the bed is about 20% (!) stones.

My friend Debbie picked up some compost and topsoil for me. If I can just FINISH "rocking" the tomato bed (hey, WEEDING is a verb for removing WEEDS... ;-) I'll be able to start building that soil, just in time to put in the tomatoes and peppers.

My Holy Saturday plans were put on hold by rain that didn't stop until about 4PM. So, instead of working on the garden, I was invited to see the movie "Monsters Vs. Aliens". It's a great movie for kids OVER 8--several younger children were distressed by some of the scenes. It's a marvelous pastiche of monster movie cliches, scrambled, diced, and remade into a touching story about being yourself.

So Easter Sunday, in between the two church services and Easter Dinner, I was doing all the stuff I wanted to do on Saturday.

And then I ate too much. My diet chart isn't looking as good as it should--it leveled out because of yesterday, and I expect I'll need some time to get it dropping again.

And now I've added yet ANOTHER draw on my time. Some friends and I, including Yseulte the mad harper, visited Killarney House in Davidsonville for St. Patrick's Day. I checked the website to see what kind of performers they usually have, and found a group called "T.I.P.S.C", the Traditional Irish Pub Singing Club. I suggested to Yseulte that they might want a harper and a whistler to add to their repertoire, and she took off! Now we are practicing with them, and it looks like we're going to be their opening act on 21 April!

Now, if we're going to be an opening act, we really needed a name. Yseulte says that if I'm getting overwhelmed, it's my own fault. I say she didn't need to take me SERIOUSLY--no one ever does!

And so was born "Mutual Blame Society"!

I can shift some time around, for about a month. I'm taking a sabbatical from singing with the choir--I just get so frustrated by the arrangements! The basses are supposed to sing what would be a reasonable tenor line, the tenors are set up on an alto line, the altos are supposed to sing soprano, and the sopranos--well, it hurts. When you show up for rehearsal ANGRY, it's time to take a break. But that means that Wednesdays will be free for awhile.

And we're finally getting close to the last day for frost in my zone. I'll be able to stop worrying about freezing my little veggies.

Cheers!

What's Happening In The Garden?

Besides the turnips, the peas and spinach from the first sowing are up. I'm going to have to thin the turnips--the seeds are so small that 2 or 3 ended up in every hole, and THEY ALL SPROUTED.

I haven't seen the onions or cornsalad--I'm afraid it was just too cold for them, and I'll need to replant.

From the 2nd sowing, the arugula is up, but nothing else yet.

(UPDATE: April 1, and the kohlrabi is peeking out!)

In the house, I've started a tray with "American Flag" leeks, "Bella" hot peppers, "Mercury" bell peppers, cabbage, and basil.

I'm thinking of trying, just as an experiment, planting potatoes which have sprouted in my cupboard, and trying to sprout some sweet potatoes and carrots the same way. I would need to add 1'x1'x1' frames to get the soil deep enough for these kinds of root vegetables. I'm also thinking of trying to grow another variety of bell pepper, this one from the seeds of the pepper I'm currently eating on my salads. Plus, I have a half-dozen different kinds of beans in my closet for bean soups and such--will they germinate? Will they grow? And what if I planted some of my popcorn? ;-)

I don't have ROOM to try everything I'm thinking of...

I still need to do remediation along the fence--dig out lots of stones, add lots of compost. Time is flying!

March Diet Results

Down at the bottom of the page are the results of my diet to date! The line to watch is the BLUE one, which is an exponentially-smoothed trendline for the fluctuating weight, in PINK. I am losing about 1.75 lbs each week, which is good.

As long as the Weight line stays below the Trend line, I'm losing weight.

Diet Is Spelled DIE--T

I'm going public.

I'm on a diet, and now all--3?--of you are watching.

My goal is to lose a pound each week for the next year. That will put me back into the "Healthy" range for my Body Mass Index, which is currently hovering near "Incipient Gravitational Collapse".

The book--don't I always have a book?--I'm following is "The Hacker's Diet: How To Lose Weight and Hair Through Stress and Poor Nutrition". The title is snarky, but accurate: losing weight REQUIRES that our bodies receive fewer calories than they burn, and the stress of dealing with the deficit is what burns off the fat.

In short, it's a standard calorie-counting diet, with automated tools to track progress and filter out the random noise--smoothing the curve so you can see your REAL progress, and not get upset because you ate ONE LOUSY PEANUT and gained 2 pounds.

I'll post a chart of my progress on a more-or-less weekly basis. Right now, there's nothing to see, so be patient.

I'm reducing my portions, limiting my desserts, skipping the Chinese buffet (-gulp!-), drinking more water, and eating more veggies. From my garden. Real Soon Now. Did I mention I have turnips?

TURNIPS! I've Got TUURRNNIIPPSS!

Well, nothing else has sprouted yet, but by God and all that's holy, I'VE GOT TURNIPS!

Second Crop Goes In...

Last Saturday, I neglected to mention that I've sowed my second batch of seeds. This time, in no particular order:

Parsnips
Arugula
Chioggia Beets
Early Wonder Beets
Prizehead Lettuce
Romaine Lettuce
Salsify
Parsley
Kale
Kohlrabi

Further bulletins as events warrant!

Keep Your Eyes OPEN!

Have you looked closely at the last picture I posted?

I neglected to mention it--other things on my mind, I guess, like freezing nighttime temperatures. But if you click on the picture, and then look up at the very top, you see...

Green wire, leaning against the fence.

Yeah? So what?

It's a tomato cage.

I found it.

I was walking Sadie through the commons area between two condominium associations, and stepped over this, laying flat on the ground. About 20 feet later, my brain registered what my eyes had seen, so I went back to look at it.

It was half-buried under last autumn's leaves, so it had been there awhile. But I had NEVER noticed it before.

I left it there one more day, thinking that the owner might have deliberately(?) buried it in the leaves? Then I brought it home.

I feel like Calvin: "There's Treasure EVERYWHERE!"