The Cleaning Crew

No, it is not a movie or a TV show we are watching, neither is it the title of a book I’m reading or writing. It is about the cleaning crew that is getting our yard ready for summer, working hard to whip it into shape.

There are only two people in the cleaning crew: my wife and I.

It has been a grueling week. Actually, we didn’t start until Tuesday, which means it’s only been 4 days, but it seems like we’ve been working at it for weeks. I am tired, but tomorrow I still want to till my garden, because I didn’t get a chance last fall. It was too wet. I have about 20 bags filled with leaves that I wanted to till under last year, which never happened, so I will do that tomorrow, at least a few of the bags. It is better in the fall. The leaves have the winter months to break down. Now I have only one month until I plant the garden.

It took us two days to pick up the fallen willow branches and to burn them. This is the first time it took us not even two days to pick the branches and burn them, but the weather people were kind to us this week and the good warm and dry weather held for the whole week. Also, the wind was never strong. Can’t burn with a strong wind blowing. In the afternoon, I raked the grass with an attachment I have for the lawn-tractor. Yesterday, I cut the grass on about half the property. I cut it really short and bagged it, at the same time picking up the dry grass that I raked yesterday. I deposited some of the grass into the truck-box until it overflowed and the rest I bagged. I couldn’t go to the dump, because it is closed on Thursday.

First thing this morning, I drove to the dump to get rid of the grass. Then I cut the rest of the yard and in the afternoon I took a second trip to the dump. They compost the leaves and grass, which is a great thing.

I made a gruesome discovery. My little friend, the rabbit I’ve been feeding all winter, lay dead under one of the spruce trees. I have no idea what killed it. I didn’t want the little feller to have died for nothing, so I gave it to the two crows that have decided to move into our neighborhood.

They built a nest in one of the ash trees in our neighbor’s yard, but they live on our lot. They own it now. You can tell by the arrogant way they walk across the grass. So I figured I might as well stay on their good side and feed them.

As I do every year, in March I seed my peppers. That’s all I seed now in the house. The rest of the plants I buy. The pepper plants are growing nicely under a fluorescent light. I also have 2 tomato plants that are growing well. I used seeds that I saved in 2010. They are called ‘Health Kick’. They are a kind of Roma tomato but a hybrid. Good producers, but I haven’t been able to find them anymore in the Garden Centers. We’ll see if these two plants will produce anything. You can’t really use seeds from Hybrids. You never know what you get, because they revert back to one of their parent plants.

I used to seed more tomatoes, but now I buy the plants. I grow 6 Roma for our Salsa, 6 Super Fantastic, and 4 Cherry tomatoes. My wife loves them. I barely eat any. I’m happy with the Super Fantastic for my sandwiches. Nothing better than eating tomatoes ripened outside on the vine. They are just so sweet and tasty. You can’t buy them like that.

I made one mistake. I seeded my cucumbers in March—much too early. They sprouted within 3 days. I transplanted them once already into larger pots and they are growing profusely. In fact, two of them have tiny cucumbers on them. Well, perhaps I’ll harvest some cucumbers before I plant them into the garden. This particular cucumber is called F1 Socrates and is supposed to be quite prolific. We’ll see.

Yes, Springtime is a busy time and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m looking forward to my first fishing trip in May. The season opens in a couple of weeks. Hopefully, the weather stays favorable. No high winds and not too much rain. No fun for me fishing in the rain and when the waves are high. My stomach revolts. I’m ready with my new Shimano Sedona Fishing reel and the night crawler jigs I made. Those Walleyes are in for a good fight, in fact, they won’t stand a chance.