Zone Pushing Burns Calories!

I took refuge from the giggles of the slumber party last night by planting my front window boxes. This time of year I plant red & lime green lettuce, pansies and a few seeds of chard which is kept snipped small.


The pansies made it thru the night just fine. The gardland the dog found on the deck did not. It became a chew toy which revisited us on the foyer tile at around 5am. Waking to the sound of retching isn't exactly a magical way to start the day but if you pretend you didn't hear it, the husband who rises first, is assured clean-up duty!
I'm not sure when the dog managed to drag the garland in or where he found the time to eat it but I guess I was a bit distracted. The gigglers, finally dropped off to sleep around 2am which meant that my big big plans for garden work today would get a bit of a late start.

Today was a mismash of activity, with lots of clean-up and bed enlargement. There was grass to be turned over, dead rose branches and an old large clematis to be trimmed. The three beds off the patio also got a clean-up. My method made the spouse frown. A lot. I used the leaf sucker upper thing but without the bag. This meant as it sucked and shredded it blew fine leaf shreddings everywhere. It was very messy but I'll do it again. Not having to muck with the bag made the process go three times faster. Then after everything was shredded I just attached the blower thing and blew all the leaf mold back into the beds. No more mess and a smug sense of satisfaction that my method worked just fine. Yes, those are leaf bits in my hair. Hush!

The final events of the day occur every evening when you live in a zone 5 and zone push. First you go in the house and listen to the final weather forecast. No silly, you can't use the morning forecast. It will have changed by then, plus doing so means a lost opportunity to steal a cookie and yell at the dog for messing up the clean windows.

Next, hearing the temps are dropping down to 27 degrees, you bring in the pansies. They all came with a weather channel tag that said "bred tough for your zone", but we who have been burned before know that they are talking about atlanta, home of the weather channel. The I'm tough tag is not referring to this zone, home of weathermen on prozac.

Pansies safely on their tarp and surrounded by mousetraps to keep the pooch away from them; it's on to the next station. Frame swapping. This station works the thighs, hind-end and patience.

Step 1: remove the plastic tarp off of the frame.
Step 1.5: throw the brick that you drop on your thumb across the yard. Step 2: answer the phone and tick off your mother when you tell her you have to call back the babies are unprotected and freezing. Step 2.5: retrieve the brick. Step 3: carry all the tomatoes, peppers, impatiens, petunias and herbs inside for the night. Remember squat, not bend. Step 3.5: Reconsider the brick when the hubby makes a comment about the squatting. Step 4: move the cold hardy stuff into the frame, and resecure the plastic tarp . Step 4.5 Pat yourself on the back for not snapping at the children when in rapid fire style they ask." what's for dinner, when is dinner, do I have to eat the asparagus, can I just have leftover pizza, did you call grandma back? "

No doubt many gardeners will read of this production and ask why. Why bother? That's easy. The outside chance of tomatoes before the fourth of July and the certainty that the calories burnt during all this activity means pie without guilt. Maybe even seconds!