Happy birthday! Beautiful blue tractor

You know you're really loosing it when you fall in love with a tractor. But, I have. Jake has too. We both are in love with this tractor.

We live on 5 acres and when I first moved here, I was clueless how much work it would take to handle a piece of property this size. In all honesty, we did pretty good with what we had for 8 long years but we longed for a tractor to broaden the scope.

Neither of us are getting any younger so last year we did it. We made the jump. We made the somewhat epic commitment and haven't looked back since.

Oh yeah,without a doubt, it was pricey but we found a 3 year, no interest deal through the dealer and we are paying it off over time.

Getting the tractor has been transformative. It literally takes minutes to accomplish what used to take hours or days. Or to put it another way; we can now do things we never could before.

So, this year, like everyone else, we are tightening our belts and planting a big garden. I have had little kitchen and herb gardens before but nothing like this. Frankly, I never would have the ambition to take on such a big project without the tractor and a little outside help.

The time is now but where to find that help?

Several weeks ago, I was whining to my GGF (good girl friend) about wishing I could find someone who could help in the garden and take produce for payment. Someone who maybe didn't have any dirt to scratch in and could share mine.

Eureka! She had just gotten an e-mail through the Grower's Association just that week. A person looking for exactly that. Well, life is often serendipitous like that and half the battle is recognizing the opportunity when it smacks you up side the head.

I called him. We met; a very nice guy. About our age, very experience. We all got on well. So, he showed up today for the first time and it was just amazing what we accomplished in a very short amount of time.

The sun was out. The air was warm. We peeled off long sleeves for the first time this year. Just having someone there to help make decisions, plan and get organized was exactly what I needed. The time flew and he is coming back in a few days.

We are nearly finished prepping the beds. We will end up with 10 big 4x12 foot raised beds and that is only the part of the garden that will be ready to plant soon. If we want to do more we can.

There is something beautiful about dirt lined up in tidy rows awaiting seeds. Maybe it is the knowledge of how much work went into getting it that way. I don't know but my back is tired from raking and leveling so, I will just share a couple glam shots of my dirt piles. Ohh...those are some handsome, handsome piles!

Meanwhile, our adored tractor sits waiting patiently for the next previously overwhelming, unachievable project to tackle.

Victory gardens

I heard on the radio yesterday that seed sales are sky rocketing. People, normal people, are scratching in the dirt and planting vegetables. Organic produce is expensive, main stream produce is tasteless and nowhere near "fresh". People are making the obvious deduction and saying, "Hey, I am going to try growing some myself."

I applaud this, even if it is a bad economy that pushes them there.

I am not a big gardener although I sure like it when I do it. Something happens when kids come along. Maybe it is the lack of uninterrupted time. So, I haven't really pulled my garden together since Shea came along.

But, I want to. Maybe this year can be different. I usually only plant the stuff I have had previous success with; lettuces, spinach, mustard greens, peas, beans. Yes, I have done tomatoes with varying success. My laziness has pushed me to buy tomatoes at the farmers market because I just can't stand the disappointment.

But, I love to plant flower seeds, easy ones. Nasturtiums, bachelor buttons, allysum: pretty, easy stuff the kids can help with.

When I walk out through my garden patch all I see is the weeds. It seems insurmountable. How am I going to clear a spot big enough for these lettuces? It's hard to start. But, when I grab a garden fork and some gloves and start turning, it goes amazing quick. It is just the starting. In a short time, maybe 1/2 an hour, I have a 4 x 6 plot ready for some lettuces. And, I am all deliciously warm and pink from the exertion. Be careful of your back!

All lettuces and spinaches are cool weather crops and will bolt (go to seed) when it gets to hot. So, plant early. Also I have found doing 2 - 3 successive plantings about 1 week apart is a good way to maximize the harvest.

So, anyway, enough talking about it. I hope to pull this off today. Wish me luck.