Saturday: A day for planting

Yesterday was perfect, if a bit warm.
I read with dismay that I was supposed to sow the mixed seeds of the butterfly collection two to four weeks before the date of the last frost! This is because there are perennial seeds in the collection which require lying about in cold earth in order to germinate when it warms up.
But I planted the seeds anyway, even though the ground was warm. I prepared the plot, in front of the side porch, where my grape hyacinth, scilla and snowdrops are planted. This is the plot where the church's lawn guy mowed down all the grape hyacinths two weeks ago because it looked like a grass patch to him, I guess, never mind the beautiful flowers blooming there. Anyway, I loosened the soil between the remains of the bulb plants, scattered the seeds, raked them in, covered them with potting soil, and watered them in.
Last night it rained and the temperature dropped. Thank God for even the smallest of mercies.
I also sowed, in my kitchen garden tubs, french breakfast radishes, petit carrots, arugula, mesclun (a lettuce mix) and basil.
Now, the kitchen garden, in the back yard, is fenced, but that does not deter the squirrels from digging in the tubs and in the pots of chrysanthemums and herbs, even the smallest pots. So, with mi esposo on the road for the weekend, I had to remember how he covered those tubs last year to protect the sowings. I hope I did a good enough job. Those squirrels - really, rodents, tree rats with bushy tails - are determined critters. If I could have found the canister of Rodent-be-Gone, a garlic oil preparation, to sprinkle on the tubs, I would have done that, but with the rain last night, and the torrential downpours coming today and tonight, a waste of time.
So, next is the preparation of the main kitchen garden bed, for beans, parsley plants and the flower seedlings I sowed earlier this week.
Then, when it's warm enough, tomato plants will go into the patch along the rectory wall outside the kitchen door, along with seeds for various beans. (Must check and make sure beans and tomatoes go together. Maybe carrots instead.)
It's always a balance between the weather, my energy level, and my schedule, getting gardening done at all. But my soul requires me to muck about in the dirt and try to bring things to life outside, in order to be alive inside.
Once in awhile everything comes together in perfect time: a sunny day for being in the garden, with a day of rain to come for watering in, and cool night temperatures to help set those seeds that like that sort of thing, as well as a day with no sermon prep to do or appointments to keep. And I still had time to go up to Stew Leonard's to get bottles of sparkling lemonades for the reception today after church to send off our Seminarian Intern into the world after Yale-Berkeley.
And now, breakfast.