Wednesday, May 20, 2009

ugh! pine trees are in bloom...

After the cold snap of the other night (39 degrees on our recording therm.) the trees are blooming with a vengeance. My spring allergies kicked in BIG TIME yesterday, which was thankfully enough a day in town so I could get OTC meds. I don't think dayquil is all that great, but the antihistamines knock me for a loop so they are reserved for blissful sleep at night.

I will likely be sweating with the earthworms today and tomorrow, as the temps are supposed to climb and I will be out putting in the summer crops -- first another planting of lettuce and spinach and then the beans, corn and vine crops. I have two days off and then two short days at the store and I am hoping to get all the planting done during this period so I can begin the Herculean task of WEEDING.

I started that a bit day before yesterday, extracting the early peas from the grass. This being a first-year garden, the grass will be my nemesis for some time to come.

We also got our "peach" tree yesterday. No, peaches are not a common crop in Maine and this tree actually should produce Gala apples. We call it our "peach" tree as it was bought with a housewarming gift card give us by a Peachie friend (who, by the way, runs the Nook and Cranny Restaurant in Baileysville, ME with her hubby Steve). If you ever find yourself on Rte 9 (AKA Airline Rd) in the Calais area of Maine, keep an eye out for the little place and stop in. It can be easy to miss, but once you eat there you will find ways to keep coming back! Great food, wonderful atmosphere and the best hostess and chef around, bar none!

But back on topic... "Peachie" gave us this gift card for Home Depot when we moved into our new home last year and we decided to apply it to something that would keep on giving... an apple tree as the start of our home orchard. Now big boxes are not known for their variety of stock, so I was quite pleased to find something that was not a Delicious (red or yellow) as we are not fond of these apples. Getting tree into earth will be the first job on my list today (me, mattock, shovel, time...) and then I will get into the planting of veggies, despite sniffling running nose and full head.

Tonight, friends in the Calais area are holding a potluck supper for other friends, just arrived for their summer in Maine and I am sad that I will not be there. However feeling as I am, I am not sure I would have been up to the drive anyway.. it will be hard enough to make it to the Business After Hours in Dover-Foxcroft that I had committed to prior to knowing this was the day for the Calais potluck. I will go, though, wearing both Dutch Hex Sign and Vision IPD hats and do some serious "local" networking.

Then come home and collapse, most likely. Wish me well!!

1 comment:

Amelia said...

Have you tried some of the new allergy meds like Claritin or Allegra? I know Claritin is supposed to be better with the grogginess.

Cool that you got a Gala tree. They are my new favorite variety. I just tried them recently when they were on sale and my regular Fuji's weren't.

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