A Garden In New Earth

Ten months ago a bulldozer and a trackhoe were grading a new road and creating a wide level spot on the point of a narrow ridge in the wilderness. Today the walls of a small cabin are going up on the post and pier foundation and the floor that was built last fall. Two small flower beds have been cleared, mulched and planted. Other new plants have been placed in various spots around what will become a full garden over time. A vegetable garden has been cleaned and prepped. The first lettuces and radishes have germinated. The spinach and sugar snap peas look like they may have been duds. Two four foot tall, thirty five foot long, dry stacked stone walls are near completion. A general tidying up of the forest's messy deadfall is ongoing. I try to be helpful in my borrowed garden next door.

Yet, the pace of things confuses me. Shouldn't this tiny cabin be done by now? Shouldn't a garden have been fully planted?

I arrived here with more determination than money. There is no budget to have Mario "Put it over there." My labor is a cost saving measure and the only source of labor. I want things done, but I can only do so much without wearing myself out. They have winter here you know and it rains quite often.

The trees are slow to leaf out. They take their sweet time. Other processes come first for many of them.
















My own garden is expanding slowly as well. A big chunk of that is due to the kindness of virtual strangers, cyberspace friends, who have sent me gardening care packages. These are treasures that I could not justify affording right now.

The Hankodils arrived last fall and were planted below the cabin at the forest edge, along what I expect to be a path into the gardens. Narcissus 'Golden Ducat' blooms now, well after Bulbarella's main show next door.
















This one from the County Clerk was supposed to be Narcissus poeticus 'Green Pearl'. It isn't. It doesn't matter. I like it.














The care package also included Narcissus triandrus 'Lemon Drop'. Narcissus odorus 'Linnaeus' bloomed first and was past its prime. It was no longer ready for a closeup. Puschkinia libanotica also put on a very good bloom in its new home. Four flats of seeds from the care package are germinating on the deck. Once our last frost date, around May 15th, has passed they can all be safely planted in the ground.















The Tulizabeths turned out to be the Mama Mia from ColorBlends. They came from Elizabeth of GardenRant and Gardening While Intoxicated. She also sent me Scilla siberica, and Chionodoxa forbesii, both of which came up and bloomed nicely. By the time my new fall planted ones had bloomed, I had posted so many photos of Bulbarella's same bulbs that it seemed redundant to show you mine. The repeated bulbs will give these two gardens some cohesion and continuity. One will flow seamlessly into the next.

Elizabeth did send me something that Bulbarella might not have, if that is possible, some Ixiolirion tartaricum, Lavender Mountain Lilies. They are early summer bloomers. They have come up, but are looking rather meek at this point.

Mama Mia at the top of my driveway with Daylilies to grow and hide their foliage.














Another wall was built and added to the cabin. Tomorrow the front door wall should get built and stood up.













The kitchen/dining nook windows. I think they are about a quarter to half inch different in the framing. They are on separate wall panels. I'll have to make sure the windows are set even. Of course the walls themselves need to be checked for level and plum too.














A cabin grows, a garden expands, at the pace at which it is happening, one thing at a time.

The first of many Iris has bloomed in my borrowed garden next door. I have been offered many plants, many times. The garden is a huge resource of free material, but digging and transplanting things takes time. The time to do that has to be found.















The miniature Daffodils, barely eight inches tall are one of the last to bloom. If I don't take the time to meander through the gardens and the forest on a regular basis I might miss out on something on miss learning something new.















Meandering outside is good for the soul after a day of hard work. It rejuvenates my aching muscles and helps me go on.













Having the option to meander is a goal of all this hard work, but it seems you have to meander to reach that goal.