Halfway there

A kind parishioner came over this afternoon with his 35+ year old rototiller and prepped the plot for my vegetable garden. I've made it a bit longer and a bit wider than previous years — I am gradually tearing out and ripping up the sterile blackberry bushes that had been encroaching on the back yard and garden. At the same time that he rototilled the garden, I found all the Jerusalem artichoke roots and pitched them as well.

So the garden is halfway in: one row of small red potatoes, another row of larger red potatoes, a row of Kennebeck white potatoes, a row of blue potatoes, a row of radishes, two rows of wax beans and one row of green beans. Once Memorial Day weekend has passed, the time when we usually are safe from frost, I will put in my herbs (parsley, cilantro, basil), my pepper plantation (all things hot, usually about 2 dozen plants) and about half a dozen tomato plants.

Given the angle of the photo, you can't see the dirt of the garden but it is rich. There's nothing better than walking around barefoot in freshly rototilled dirt, especially when it is warm. That was my treat this afternoon.

Nor can you tell in the foreground that there are half a dozen asparagus plants. As a simple thank you for his working on the garden and for his wife mowing the church front bank and yard, I picked the very first asparagus of the season (eight spears) and gave them the asperguys (my made-up plural for them). There are another six spears coming along.

It's country rural in the middle of a small town. However, in August and early September, I will be glad for the work today.