I hadn't planned to work in the garden this morning. I only went out to dump a scoop of corn under the apple tree for the deer. But when I glanced over at the garden (I use this term loosely), it looked pitiful.
With weeks of rain, we couldn't do our weeding work and several tomato plants sprawled on the ground. One morning I went out in the rain to feed the chickens and noticed the fallen plants. When I stepped into the garden, I sank up to my calfs in garden muck. So the weeds grew unimpeeded.
But today, the garden had drained and the soil was tillable so cranked the old Troybilt and dug mountains of weeds.
I righted all the plants and trimmed all the dead and dying leaves and branches off. When I left, I upgraded how the garden looked from pitiful to sad.
Mud caked my work shoes so I stopped by the hosepipe and washed my feet, shoes, ankles and calfs.
When I walked toward the porch, a butterfly perched on a lantana blossom. She gently waved her wings as if the nectar gave her a buzz. I pulled the camera from my pocket and snapped a few pictures, before she wised up.
All in all, it was a productive morning.
With weeks of rain, we couldn't do our weeding work and several tomato plants sprawled on the ground. One morning I went out in the rain to feed the chickens and noticed the fallen plants. When I stepped into the garden, I sank up to my calfs in garden muck. So the weeds grew unimpeeded.
But today, the garden had drained and the soil was tillable so cranked the old Troybilt and dug mountains of weeds.
I righted all the plants and trimmed all the dead and dying leaves and branches off. When I left, I upgraded how the garden looked from pitiful to sad.
Mud caked my work shoes so I stopped by the hosepipe and washed my feet, shoes, ankles and calfs.
When I walked toward the porch, a butterfly perched on a lantana blossom. She gently waved her wings as if the nectar gave her a buzz. I pulled the camera from my pocket and snapped a few pictures, before she wised up.
All in all, it was a productive morning.
We've been having the most beautiful butterflies visiting our garden this year. Tell me if you've noticed this: different species of butterflies seem to be battling it out. I'd never noticed it before, but if you watch them - they seem to be territorial! It's the funniest thing.
ReplyDelete(And our vegetable garden is pitiful, too. Our tomatoes grew is great clusters that were tight and toppled over plants, even with cages. It was the weirdest tomato year yet.)
I love the butterfly!!
ReplyDeleteGood reason to keep a camera in your pocket.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't take long for the garden to become overrun after a long period of rain. By tomorrow I am sure it will look happy.
ReplyDeleteRain. I remember rain. Thanks for the the excellent description and photos. California will recover and so shall I.
ReplyDeleteGreat picture. I do love butterflies.
ReplyDeleteI agree, a great picture of a beautiful butterfly. We used to have lots of butterflies around but for some reason I've noticed more birds and less butterflies this year.
ReplyDeleteWeeds never take time off and in late summer, even the tiny weeds turns to seeds and I can never catch up with all that there is to do in the yard and gardens. Enjoy your weekend.
JB
I know you feel good after that accomplishment. Hey, I though I was the only one sho used the term 'hosepipe'. My grands son says," A WHAT?"
ReplyDeleteLove the butterfly picture. You catch some good ones.
Love Butterflies! You got a nice pic there! We pulled up the green beans and cleaned up the rest of our raised beds. Now on to the flowers...so much work..so little time! We still haven't had a ton of rain. After the soggy Spring and beginning of Summer it's a bit strange to be so dry! Have a great rest of the weekend!
ReplyDeleteButterflies always cheer me up and this is a wonderful picture.
ReplyDeleteThis is a lovely picture of a flower I love and a butterfly! I love butterflies because they just represent joy in life.
ReplyDelete