The garden is approximately a disaster, but there is food planted
and some growing. After the past year, this is wonderous. Nothing
got planted in 2020 (more below).

According to my limited log keeping, I am only about 10 days behind
2019 in planting, so I can hope for some success.

I have the tomatoes in (down to 9 cages, 3 trials), 6 cages of Blue
Lake beans (hoping that is enough to get canning sized pickings at
one time -- plain beans & dilly beans), and 8 (I think) cages of
cucumbers, mostly for garlic dill pickle relish.

There are several basil plants to be planted tomorrow. These are
from the nursery as I flaked out and did not get them seeded inside
like I planned. (Memory of $60 spent will help motivate me next year.)

There should be other things, but after a year off, this may be all
I can deal with.

Several beds are complete losses after a year of neglect. No point
in planting, just weeding, weeding & weeding.

An additional issue is that our county yard waste center, which is
usually overflowing with free mulch, is overflowing with brush,
with no mulch to be seen. I need to find someone to talk to about
what to expect there.

I may need to lean on songbird's paper & cardboard methods . . .
which brings other supply questions.


As for 2020 . . . .

Like many people in the world, and maybe several people here, I
deal (sometimes well, sometimes not) with Depression. Over the
last decade or two, gardening has been a large part of managing
that.

My *intended* garden schedule starts with seeding the tomatoes
inside in February. Following that is tilling, mulching, other
seedings (inside & out), etc. But by February (maybe January) 2020,
I was glued to the horrible situation in Italy, and then far too
many other places. And I had a sense of dread.

And I shut down. Maybe if the seeds had been started, they'd have
pulled me along. I don't know. But I was on the couch following
body counts and frozen.

By mid-March 2020, I was working from home. And I am still there
today. (Eight years from even considering retirement.)

Vaccinated and starting to crack the doors toward, um, something.
Taking baby steps.


I may heve neglected to say that the tomatoes are blooming.

--
Drew Lawson | "But the senator, while insisting he was not
| intoxicated, could not explain his nudity."