To nap, to clean or to plant? That is the question…

Today I had a big decision to make. Both boys went down for a nap…at the same time. I had all but forgotten what that was like. I looked around my house thinking that maybe I should clean. Ha! Clean when both of them are napping? Ludicrous.

My next thought was to take a nap myself. Late nights and early mornings have become routine around here. Then I looked outside. How could I sleep when it was so beautiful and I have a gajillion trees and bushes to plant?

I can plant and dig when the boys are awake but it takes a lot longer. They like to help. They like to wander off. They like to step on my newly planted strawberries.

I patiently (most of the time) let them help me because I know that if I don’t, they will lose interest and not want to help when they are older. I figure if I make it fun for them now…there is a chance that they will enjoy it as they grow. That’s the plan anyway.

Since they were napping, I went outside, put my boots on and played in the dirt.

I started by planting kinnickinnick in the swale. I’m hoping that it will vine out and spread into a beautiful green blanket…just like all the pictures.

I also walked around the swales a bit. It hasn’t rained in 3 or 4 days but we still have standing water in part of the top swale. Pretty cool since before all the water ran off our property in a day.

I had my tomato starts out on the deck and since I have been itching to get them in the ground, I decided I’d experiment. I took a black seaman, a ground cherry and an heirloom (variety unknown) and transplanted them to the kitchen garden. We’ll see how they do. Hopefully it doesn’t snow in June.

Then I went out to the fedge thinking…”I’m not gonna have time to get all these in.” I had 8 bushes to plant: 3 blackberry, 3 autumn olive and 2 seaberry. Not only did I get them all planted, fertilized and mulched…I also dug the holes for the remaining 3 seaberry bushes and 3 blackberry bushes coming from another nursery. Now when they get here all I have to do is fertilize, cover and mulch!

Of course, I’m not completely done with the fedge. We’ll still need to put cages around the newbies to keep the deer from helping themselves even though we have a whole back pasture full of clover and…but I digress.

I’m feeling like I accomplished quite a bit today. I got some exercise, sun and free therapy.

Next up? Planting trees in the swale.