A whole lot of stuff going on

The first ripe Mara de Bois strawberry

Sowing seeds, potting up, taking cuttings, weeding, transplanting starts, feeding, fertilizing, putting up protection on cold nights, digging holes and even drilling holes - May is always such a busy month!

Until I get everything into the ground and the irrigation system up and running, the most that I'm able to show is all in these pictures taken a week ago. Fortunately the weather has been cooperative with nights in the mid-teens and days in the low 20°s (celsius). Sunny to partially sunny days and light winds maintain these cool conditions, so I haven't seen a big growth spurt in the more heat-loving plants.

Mercado de Paris carrots (small, round, sweet variety) grown in an 18-inch container. Netting to keep out cabbage moths.

In the greenhouse: pattypan squash, Yellow Cutie and Piccolina watermelon, okra, pak choi, cucamelon (Mexican sour gherkin), and echinacea seedlings.

Like I said, I also drill holes! In 5-gallon buckets that is. There's something liberating about going into my husband's workspace and pawing through his carpentry tools. One day I will learn how to use the table saw, or better yet, chainsaw!

Cracked open a dried up passion fruit, threw it in some dirt and this happens.

Started way too many physalis peruviana (poha berry) from seed and hope they'll take to our mountain climate. I'd say the germination was 100% with all of the little seedlings that popped up.

This is Bartzella, my first Itoh peony grown from rootstock. Only in its 2nd year but it produced 3 blooms (last year I got only leaves). Now I understand why all the fuss over peonies; they're beautiful, elegant, and just breathtaking. This one has a lemony scent; I'll be potting up to a larger, permanent container as there is no space to put it into the ground.

Lastly, zephyr bi-color summer squash and Red Kuri seedlings. Waiting for them to fill out a bit before transplanting into the ground. I'll be staking and growing the zephyrs vertically to allow space for the Red Kuri to develop and sprawl underneath.

Next month: putting the last of the seedlings out and hopefully, the first harvest of fall-sown broadbeans.

Lawn renovation to start the new season

Ready for hosting outdoor summer grilling

What a way to start off the growing season. Old grass, weeds, crabgrass, and dead spots (from the dogs peeing in the same place) had been gradually taking its toll on the front yard. We knew that spring would be the best time for a project like this, so the last week of April (typically a vacation week in Italy as April 25 and May 1 are national holidays) was spent getting down and dirty.

An order for 50 (16x60-inch) sod rolls was to be delivered on April 27th, but we didn't start tearing out the old lawn until a few days before. Using a flat-edged digging shovel, the MotH did the brunt of the work, shearing segments of lawn about a square yard at a time. Grass roots are more tenacious than I could've imagined. We also tried using a pitchfork to dig up clumps, but that resulted in more work to shake off the dirt. Hours were spent tapping chunks of grass with a trowel to get out as much dirt as possible.

After 2 long days, the major part of the yard is cleared and raked smooth. The last section was left temporarily for the dachshund to have someplace to do his business...

Delivery day. Weighing in at about 20 pounds each, MotH carried each roll up (they were deposited on a pallet just outside the garage). There were 37 instead of the 50 rolls ordered. Fortunately, after laying all of them down, MotH calculated that we only needed 2 more. Instead of making a fuss, it was agreed that we would pick up the rolls ourselves (and also the potting soil that they had forgotten), and be reimbursed for any rolls that we did not need.

Sod rolls: 50 x 7.50€
Potting soil (45 liters) for lawn use: 2 x 7.50€
Delivery: 55€
Total: 445 euros
Credit: 82.50€

A nice bonus of redoing the lawn: expanding the flower section even if by a few inches. Next project: digging up and repositioning bulbs, dividing the poppies and what the heck, maybe even clearing everything out and redesigning the whole flower bed.