I'm sure a lot of people were disappointed that today was cloudy and cool, with a fine mist later in the afternoon. Bummer for those Memorial Day barbecues. But I was delighted; it's perfect weather for transplanting seedlings into the vegetable garden.
I did not have access to the garden until the end of March, so I didn't have a chance to till it up or make any plans for it until the very last minute. I threw some peas and chard seeds into the ground as soon as I could, then spent several weeks attempting to remove all the bindweed. The whole garden was
covered with it.
That's the peas on the left, with the chard down at the end of the row. The peas are the bush variety, so they don't need tall supports. The frames from street-spam signs work well for this.
On the right, I was happy to discover some established herbs amidst all the weeds. Oregano, lemon balm, sage and chives. There's also one wee thyme plant I almost pulled out by mistake.
Beyond them I planted 10 tomato plants and two tomatillos. Also two acorn squash. I put in five cukes, some Thai peppers and sweet red peppers. And some more thyme.
Dug some more bindweed out. Placed the flagstones down the middle and use some bricks to mark off different areas. Some lettuce seeds are sprouting, and I need to get more seeds in. Beans, for example.
| When I was putting up the pyramid trellises for the tomatoes, I got a little surprise. I was pushing the legs into the dirt and some sort of yellow pollen stuff started drifting down. Except it wasn't pollen. I looked closer and discovered that huge batch of baby spiders must have just hatched out from some egg cases at the top of the pyramid. Most of them were hanging on to a bunch of spider web up there, but many had also come tumbling down when I jostled the trellis. |  |
I hope they're
good spiders. The only bad ones here are black widows. Oh wait. I just googled "yellow baby spiders" and discovered they are common garden spiders, and are beneficial.
Thrive, wee spiders! Eat all the bad garden bugs!
The irrigation line that I punctured happened to be the line to the handy spigot next to the garden. It's all fixed now, and I laid out some soaker hoses. Next year I'll plan better and put in proper drip lines after I till and before I plant. I saved all the drip tubing from my old house (I take it up in winter), so I should be set. But soakers will be fine for this year.
I know it doesn't look like much, but trust me, I moved mountains today!
Wolf spiders are said to be common in Colorado, but this is the first time I've seen one. That's my index finger to give you an idea of its size. (Click on the photos to see them larger.)
After we'd ooh'd and ah'd over this one, I nudged it off the trail with my foot so it wouldn't get stepped on. 
