(Hey, wait, I guess I *can* take a picture at 9:35 pm! Flying totally blind, but hey, that’s what flashes are for. Does this count as kinnearing?)
Thank you Dr. R. for telling me if I went ahead and had that colectomy that up till then I’d been so afraid of, that after recovery, I would feel wonderful…
When we were at that hardware store Saturday, I also picked up a few chocolate mint plants. When we got home, I planted them along a narrow strip at the front where they would be hemmed in by concrete: the walkway ahead of them, the foundation of the house behind, in a small bed less than a foot wide set between. Rinsed mint leaves dipped in sugar is a favorite of mine, and who can resist one that has chocolate as part of its very name? We would get along well.
Michelle asked me later, when she got home, “But Mom, don’t you know mint roots can grow through concrete?” I knew they were invasive, but as in, right there right into the house?
Huh. Well, my mom says her Aunt Betty’s old house was held up by the ivy that grew clear into the closets on the second floor (wood is wood, right?), and I know that house has been standing since at least the late 1800’s. Mint smells better than ivy. Still. Um. I might have to eat a lot? We might replace zucchini in the proverbial scenario where the neighbors close the curtains and refuse to answer the door when they see us coming bringing some to share?
I planted two tomatoes out front: I thought that’s where Richard wanted them. He thought it was where I wanted them and that he was being agreeable. Turns out neither of us really wanted them there. Again, that was Saturday evening; tonight in the dusk (after somewhat more careful consultation) they and the cages that were around them got slipped into the back yard and disappeared from the front. You know, just messing with the neighbors’ minds a little. It was amazing to me to see how much growth they’d put out in two days of having extra dirt and sun to kick back in, basking in the warmth.
I was careful to take extra soil with the original rootballs.
Someone, I’m not sure who, topped the fig tree last fall. Why? …Instead of soaring straight up, now it’s growing thickly in two parts from the cut at the top. It’s right at the fence line. I’m sitting here thinking at the folks behind us, half for you, half for me. We’ll see how it goes. Again with the consultation concept: I’ll ask them if they want it there and if not, out it will go and a new one will be planted elsewhere. Having now owned a fig tree, I want a fig tree.
I watered the apple and plum trees, (the Meyer lemon can fend for itself for the moment) noting that despite the blossoms earlier, there was no sign of growing plumlets on the baby Santa Rosa and a few leaves looked well chewed. Okay, I guess not this year. Next year; all the more to look forward to (while I go read up on the subject to make sure it will happen then).
I tried to plant the hydrangea to top the evening off, but I ran out of daylight, since I can only garden outside when the UV risk is essentially zero–but the late evenings are definitely mine now. Lift a spade full of rocks? I can do this. For so very, very long, I could not, not the digging, not the lifting, not the carrying the hose from front to back, not the spading-out where I wanted those tomatoes, but now, I can. All this energy!
At least today I knew where the spade was; those mint plants and the tomatoes in their first spot got planted with a large serving spoon from the kitchen. Tells you how long it’s been.
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Junior Mints, Peppermint Patties, After Eights…I love them all! Wouldn’t you know that I’d give birth to a child who detests mint chocolate so much that I can’t even put an After Eight on the table at Christmas, or store chocolate in the same cupboard as mint tea.
Gardening at night sounds enchanting. Maybe you could get yourself a portable lantern?
Comment by LynnM 05.19.09 @ 3:53 amI love gardening and like you have to be careful during the day. I never thought of working in the evening however, that might just be the ticket for me!! Thank You for the Idea 🙂
Am gonne get some tomatos and herbage I think today as well as the necessary items to plant them.
Absolutely amazing. So glad you have all this new energy. I love hearing about all the flowers, plants, trees, etc. as your growing season is so much longer than mine and more varied.
Comment by Joansie 05.19.09 @ 4:50 amYay you! And I smiled when I first read ‘chocolate mint’ – I thought ‘Chocolate – how perfect for Alison!’.
I’m so happy for your renewed strength and energy, that you have your evenings outside and that you and Richard in spite of your agreeableness (?) found a better place for your tomatoes! Gardening, like knitting and spinning, is good for the soul.
Comment by (formerly) no-blog-rachel 05.19.09 @ 5:12 amI bought a nice fat chocolate mint plant when we were in Virginia a few weeks ago, too. I love the smell, too. And I’m tired of ivy growing on our house. We must cyber twins! 😉
Don’t be afraid of mint..I know how to kill it just in case. 🙂
When we did the “Behind the Seeds” tour at the Land in Epcot they advised continually removing the lower leaves from tomato plants. It lets air circulate around the plant from below, and really keeps disease and pests down. Who knew?
Comment by Barbara-Kay 05.19.09 @ 5:42 amI love fresh mint, rinsed and frozen. Must get some chocolate mint, but I think it might live in a planter…
Comment by Channon 05.19.09 @ 5:44 amSo great that you feel good now. Yeah Allison!
Judy
CHOCOLATE mint? Oh, that’s… that’s… sigh. Heavenly. What makes it chocolate – colour or actual cocoa genes?
Wow. That amount of energy’s astounding. And I bet you keep getting stronger every week, don’t you? I’m so glad.
Comment by Lene 05.19.09 @ 7:59 amI’m thrilled that you’re feeling so good! It’s amazing isn’t it, that the joy you find in being able to do the small things helps the healing so that you can do more still. 🙂
Comment by TripletMom 05.19.09 @ 8:55 amWonderful!!!
I MUCH feel better this year than last, but not up to garden-ready. Hopefully that will come. In the meantime, I have a new treat to try. Mountain mint leave dipped in sugar.. Hmmm.. maybe I’ll try lemon balm and bee balm, too. My garden does a good job of letting some plants keep coming back, thank goodness.
Um, gardening is not for me, either. Not in my condition. But I am delighted that you have all this energy!
Fun:
POEM FOR US COMPUTER USERS OVER 40
A computer was something on TV
From a Science Fiction show of note,
A window was something you hated to clean
And ram was the father of a goat.
Meg was the name of my girlfriend
And gig was a job for the nights
Now they all mean different things
And that really mega bytes.
An application was for employment
A program was a TV show
A cursor used profanity
A keyboard was a piano.
A Memory was something that you lost with age
A CD was a bank account
And if you had a 3 1/2-in. floppy
You hoped nobody found out.
Compress was something you did to the garbage
Not something you did to a file
And if you unzipped anything in public
You’d be in jail for a while.
Log on was adding wood to the fire
Hard drive was a long trip on the road
A mouse pad was where a mouse lived
And a backup happened to your commode.
Cut you did with a pocket knife
Paste you did with glue
A web was a spider’s home
And a virus was the flu.
I guess I’ll stick to my pad and paper
And the memory in my head.
I hear nobody’s been killed in a computer crash
But when it happens they wish they were dead.
I’m glad you have so much more energy. I let my daughter plant some peppermint in a pot in the ground. We’ll see if that keeps it from taking over. I hadn’t heard that about the lower leaves of tomato plants. I’ll give that a try–well, after I get the salvia planted and dosed with miraclegrow, and so on. And eventually the tomatos turn into a jungle, and then it’s all I can do to get in to pick the fruit. The bottom leaves will have to take care of themselves.
Comment by LauraN 05.19.09 @ 10:55 amGood for you! You are strong and gardening really is energizing, isn’t it? I love the idea of a fig tree.
Comment by Madeline 05.19.09 @ 8:26 pmMore energy. I’m green with envy and thrilled for you.
Comment by RobinM 05.20.09 @ 3:48 pmi’m really hoping to get some plants int he ground this weekend. It was cold and/or rainy all last weekend. Fingers crosssed the weather behaves
Comment by Carol 05.20.09 @ 7:01 pmYou might want to ask Richard to put a strip of sheet metal between the foundation and the dirt.
Then if you went deep enough with it (about 3 ft of sheet metal), you could grow bamboo too 😉
Comment by Tiny Tyrant 05.21.09 @ 9:00 amBamboo is the worst–it is an invasive grass that grows 2 feet deep. Mint? It’s not that bad. Ivy growing ON a house is destruction, personified. The rest, well, not so bad. Dandylions and other weeds all have their good sides/greens, too, so enjoy your mint!
Comment by Karen 06.03.09 @ 5:15 pmLeave a comment
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