On Schedule

All of the bean and pea trellises are up!

By the end of May I can feel a little flurried, hurried and even panicked as I look at the list of things to be done or that should have been done. So much must be done in the garden by the end of May, which also brings many other activities, from graduations to parties that are held just because it is finally warm outside.

Pink Blush Snap Pea flower.

May always flies by and I feel windblown by its end.

This year has been no exception to the quick flight of May. Yet I feel less windblown this year -- figuratively, anyway, we've had plenty of literal wind this year. Could it be that I have actually gotten myself into a rhythm that allows me to get things done on time? Or have I just learned to let go of the things that I cannot get done?

Hiring someone to help me weed, feed and mulch our young fruit trees has helped. But I do think I have figured out a rhythm. My dance is more graceful. I move in synch with the beat.

Newly planted Echinacea angustifolia seedling.

One of the things that has me believing that I am now stepping more gracefully to the rhythm is that I have been able to tackle garden projects that are not about food crops. I've just planted  a number of seedlings of narrow leaf coneflower, Echinacea angustifolia, a medicinal flower. Several other new areas for medicinal herbs and flowers also have been established.

A flower garden that I thought would have to wait for next year, actually got planted with some zinnias, cosmos and hollyhocks. All I had to do was move a tarp and the last bits of a compost pile. Instant flower garden.

Thyme is creeping along. (Caraway thyme, Thymus herba barona)

Early this week I got all of the bean and pea trellises up. Most of the other tasks on my list can be done throughout the summer, there is no hurry. Imagine that. Being on schedule. On track. Moving in time with the music of the season.

Now, if only I can get the tomato cages made before the tomatoes need them. Will I get the betony harvested to dry before the flowers are in full bloom?
One step at a time.

I am sure that my sense of being on schedule will dim once the harvest begins coming on strong and I must spend my afternoons processing, freezing, canning, pickling, while the weeds go out of control.
But that is not now. For now I will take some time to smell the honeysuckle and watch the flowers bloom.

Blue flag iris.