Warm temperatures today with higher ones coming later in the week. I know it’s early yet, but I decided to plant what I have ready for the vegie garden before they all die in their pots. None of my tomatoes starts survived life without a greenhouse but everything else seems to have, so far. I will have to buy tomato starts in town later in the month.

I headed up to the garden at 9 AM with my bag of supplies. Seed planting guide,  garden journal, dog treats, camera, mugs, thermos of coffee, sunglasses, apple (my lunch) and bird seed. I was ready for the day.

Planted in the garden now are 

• Nine cucumbers plants
• Lettuce mix
• Five Delicata Squash
• Five Spaghetti Squash
• Five Salmon River Squash
• Five Cinderella Pumpkin
• Three groups of Peas, started two weeks apart
• Carrot seeds 
• Parsnip seeds 
• Two types of Beet seeds 
• Pole beans
• Bush beans
• Garlic continues to thrive

I have to say the garden is looking lovely and I might have spent a fair amount of time sitting in the shade taking pictures of birds between my planting and weeding duties.

Here are some non dead birds as a pleasant treat after yesterdays horror shot.

Along with the warmer temperatures comes wild fire concerns and they are warranted. The ground is already crisp and scarily dry. We only had 55 mm rain in February, 11 mm in March and 70 mm in April. April was pollen season so our water tanks were closed. Our water tanks never did fill to max. We have an 8500 gallon capacity and only 6000 in reserve. Sure it is more than we have had in previous years but it’s disappointing. Our only hope is a surprise shower in June.

We may well have missed the window of opportunity to begin a bunkie this summer. There is talk of a partial fire ban beginning soon (no burning after 1 PM followed with a two hour fire watch) and that leaves us little opportunity to clean up any debris we would cause dropping trees to clear the site.

E is trying to get some of the wood we have gathered split and stacked. He has had the wood splitter running most of the last two days. There will be a point this summer when there is a full fire ban and we can’t even run splitters or chainsaws, due to preventative fire restrictions.

As is usual for life on this island, urgent stuff gets done first and sometimes it’s all urgent