Can I have some cheese with my whine???

If you live in the Midwest ... I am sure you understand my whining.

We have had measurable rain for 20 out of 26 days this month.  Yea.  I am tired of gardening with hip waders on!!  It has been cold and damp and just miserable.  I will garden with long underwear on but I draw the line with a down jacket and mittens!!!

Now I farm.  And you know farmers.  We always complain about the weather!!!

But this year ... we actually have something to complain about.  At this moment, only 3% of the corn crop in Iowa has been planted.  Compare that to last year when 61% of the corn crop had been planted.  And the 5 year average for this time period is 28%.  So we are a little behind.

But you say .... You don't plant corn.  No .. I don't plant corn. 

But the same conditions that are slowing down the corn planting, slow down the flower crop.  You destroy the texture and the life of the soil by tilling it when it is wet.  The flower roots do not like the cold soil ... and even though they may live through it..... they are delayed and stunted by the cold temperatures.  And one day of dry, warm temperatures helps..... but it does not instantly create good planting conditions.

So my plants and I sit.

Well, actually I write lists.  Dream lists ... goal lists.... to-do lists.

And guess what???  They are long lists!!!



But we do have some good things planned for the year.

The little gazebo gets a make-over with a new paved floor.... this is on the to-do list!  We are hosting our first wedding this year and I want it to be a beautiful, happy, casual look in the garden.  And this will be important to-do.

We are creating a handicapped accessible cutting garden this year.  This is going to take some "tweaking".  Do I have it in the right place?  Is it the right height?  Do I have the right flowers in it?  Is my soil mix good?  So a somewhat-temporary garden will be created and we will see how it works.


A goal project is the lath house.

This picture was taken shortly after the lath house was built.  We built this to give our customers a place to relax and cool off in the hot August summer.  It easily runs 10 to 15 degrees cooler in the lath house.  And since that time, the curly willow to the right of the lath house, has grown and grown and grown.  Despite being chopped down many a time!!!!

But the lath house needs a make-over.  A fresh new coat of paint.  Some color inside.  A couple of fun new chairs.  A chandelier.  And a sense of whimsy. 

Yea ... what Miss Eff's needs is another sense of whimsy!!!!

And the dream list?  Well, it was a rough winter in Iowa.  And I avoided ordering 15 times the flowers I need, just because it snowed!  (I have been known to do that!)

But the rainy days have me perusing the online catalogs..... looking for replacements for the clematis I lost ... a new lily .... maybe some extra cosmos.  Maybe a new look for the south garden .........

Dreaming ... dreaming .... dreaming.

I think I need to hide the credit card!!!!!

Comments

Anonymous said…
I hear you! There's 2 inches of water in the basement, so all the plants I started from seed are in the greenhouse, which would be fine under normal conditions except there's no bloomin' sun to warm it! I've already had to restart the seeds once, if these don't germinate I'll have to buy plants. My garden's been tilled for a while but it's too soggy to plant. We're going to miss pea season at this rate.
Rita Templeton said…
Oh yes, I'm beyond tired of the rain too! It makes me feel perpetually sleepy. :(
Today is cold and nasty here. Can't get in the garden. See forecast is for a couple more nights in the 30's. Can't plant tomatoes with that looming over us. Garden is too wet to walk in. Perennials are doing fine but can't plant annuals. I hear several guys are finding morels--$15 for 1 pound! ouch!
★Linda★
And sadly- the corn thats been planted will most likely have to be re-planted.

I can deal with crappy weather in january- its to be expected...but I think we can feel a bit sorry for ourselves because winter started a month earlier this year and it seems like its never ever going to be nice again. My husband - God Bless him is taking it all in stride, reminding me that to much rain is still better then too little.

I think we should all get together and have a week long pitty party- maybe by that time the daily rain showers will at last stop for awhile.
Judy T said…
I feel your pain. I haven't even gotten my peas and onions planted yet. ACK! But the garden isn't the least of my worries. This rain is holding up chicken coop constuction. I've got 4 little darlings almost 4 weeks old now living in a dog kennel in the basement and 8 more chicks arriving next week.
Rain, rain go away....
Judy
Anonymous said…
Hmm, Miss Eff has free time...and I've been running up the credit card buying farming-type books on my Kindle (just in the past couple of weeks I've gotten The Bucolic Plague, Hit By A Farm & The Dirty Life)..I know somebody who needs to write a book! I'll proof it for ya!

Popular Posts