rain!

a magnificient crash-bang thunderstorm and a half an inch of rain, all at once, late last night!

this is our first real rain since February. it’s the first time we’ve had anything measurable since we bought the rain gauge. the garden just soaked it up. there’s supposed to be more today & tomorrow. *fingers crossed*

Chard and Orach:

Potatoes! already in need of more mulch:

The peas have not gotten much taller. we set up this strawbale wall to protect them from the winds just the other day; i’m hoping that helps. but they’re pretty in the rain, nevertheless.

Oregano from Sandy:

Catnip from Sandy. Note the distinctive catnip-wire-cage. Tatters has already discovered the stuff.

Orach, which really does taste very similar to spinach:

Nasturtiums getting big:

(i could plant a squash right in the middle of them; they deter squash bugs).

And, on my way to work on campus this morning, the Catalpas in bloom:

i love how they offer up their great platters of flowers to the heavens.

plus i got my hat back last night. you know, my hat. the one i’m almost never seen without. in my exuberance over passing the InnerConnexion layout job onto Erin, i apparently left the hat at the chinese restaruant where we had our (last) meeting. it took me all week to figure it out and get it back, but they did still have it, thank goodness.

then we went to and ‘s house and dug up a whole VW full of carrizo, as stands of cane and as rhizomes. Which is now all standing or leaning variously around the front fence, along which i will plant it tonight if it doesn’t get any muddier today, and saturday if it does. it’s a sturdy, hard rhizome, clearly hardier than your average iris, and will be fine sitting out till saturday, though i’m going to try to get it in the ground tonight so that if it does rain anymore, it’ll start putting down roots and being the Instant Fence, Just Add Water that i’ve been hoping for. :) plus, we fit it all in the VW. that’s because i’m in the habit of accomplishing impossible things with the VW. however, we’re going back in a couple weeks to dig up the rest of it, and this time, instead of loading the car at 8 a.m. when i can’t even think straight enough to figure out what to wear, we’ll load up the night before, and bring the truck, a breaker bar, and the trenching shovel, as well as two regular shovels and the garden knife, which we did manage to bring last night, and accomplised small miracles with. this stuff is sturdy. and G says the shoots are quite tasty, too; good to know. :)

Saturday, we’re planting beans & corn, and possibly some squashes. advantage to planting squash now: they get big fast, and they’re big enough to go out. disadvantage: waiting 2+ more weeks will give us a lot more immunity to the late-may Squash Bug Plague that gets so many curcurbits around here. in either event, we can direct-seed the edamame, okra, quinoa (someone gave me seed, so i’m going to give it a try even though we’re at a very low elevation for quinoa–a mere 4900 ft, the lowest place i have ever in my life lived), broomcorn (yay!), and some herbs. and the sunflowers in amongst the cane.