Not an Exact Fit, Times Two

Look at the fabulous garden prep we did this weekend!! Everything is looking so good. You might notice the new raised bed with the cover. This is especially exciting. I have long wanted a covered bed for lettuces and kale–the foods worms love. So, this year we’re giving this a go.

We filled the bottom with old fallen limbs from our mulch pile, much like we did with our keyhole raised bed. This helps save money when buying soil. The only problem is, when we constructed this new bed, we did not make the correct shape to correspond to the cover. So, the cover isn’t an exact fit. Dang! This is totally our own fault. The cover fits if you construct the bed in a longer, narrower shape. We had already filled it with soil before putting on the cover, so we decided to just live with the inexact fit. (A cover of the correct size is sold out.) Anyway–overall, I am not disappointed. When, and if, a correct cover becomes available, I will buy it.

Next week it is supposed to drop below freezing, so we are waiting until the weekend to plant our cold weather seeds which we plant directly into the soil.

This year, we are also trying a pea teepee. The peas always grow high and then bend because they don’t have any way to go higher on our trellises. So, we’ll try this. (Though, if the peas do go really high, I am not sure how we will pick them!) The tree in the back is getting kind of big and making more shade in this space there used to be, but I think we will be okay for peas. They usually only make it through June because it just gets too hot for them after that.

I am so excited! Each year the garden gets better and better. There are always some unforeseen successes and, of course, unforeseen troubles which we learn to solve. Like all the ten thousand aphids last year that came after our cowpeas. We sat on our hands and little-by-little, sure enough, the enemy to aphids insects arrived and took care of them. We’ll see what this year will bring.

And then, here is my other inexact fit. The Buness hat.

Isn’t it a beauty? It is the one I mentioned last week in my post. The knit that underwhelmed me. It took a lot of focus, and indeed, as expected, it does not fit. I don’t know who it would fit. The inner brim is way too floppy and loose and too shallow to stay on anyone’s head. What a pity. I won’t be making another one of these.

Next week promises to be busy as usual. I find myself eating breakfast and lunch on my feet in some short “between times” I have during the day. The weekends, therefore, are particularly glorious because I can sit outside and listen to birds and just breathe.

Here’s hoping you have some time to breathe too!