We're planting raspberry canes, ripped from a jungle of weeds, into their newly prepared cleared beds.
We have attended to only the smallest strip of the old overgrown patch -- pulling out weeds turning over the soil, burying it in chips, planting three rows (thus far) of healthy canes. How small? -- maybe a fiftieth of the land we have to restore to order.
But "have to" is a relative term. If we did nothing today, would our lives really change? Ed tells me he could live with weeds for the rest of his life. And yet, here we are, planting orderly rows of raspberry canes in the new weed-free patch. Or... one fiftieth of it.
Why so late in the day? Well, it was a crazy busy set of hours. A lovely breakfast downtown with a friend who is momentarily in Madison. A meeting on campus (scheming about my future work). A delinquent appointment at the clinic. A long overdue phone call with another friend -- whom I rarely call except when it is really important.
The hours were full.
Even as the day itself held little of the charm (weatherwise) of late May. It had stormed at night and now, in the morning it felt wet and cool. And then wet and warm. Then just plain wet.
All that rain brings lushness to the farmette, but it also brings work. Keeping up with weeding is a challenge. But, it surely is a beautiful world out there.
As I struggle to race through my schedule, Ed continues to de-weed the patch that has grabbed our attention and efforts. (Here he is, removing a black walnut tree that had invaded the raspberry space. If you think he looks muddy and rather filthy, well, yes, he does.)
A warning: things will spin forward rapidly in the next week. I have a quick trip to California before me, then, too, those exams to finish. And, importantly -- every bit of last minute spring gardening to tackle (over and beyond the raspberry patch project) -- all this before we take off for our vacation a week from tomorrow. If posting seems rather jagged and rough around the edges -- well, you've seen it before. The days have only so many hours.
Supper? Leftover veggies (etc) from the fridge.
Tomorrow's post will be from San Francisco. Until then!
