Over the course of the winter, we had plenty of rain. It’s comforting to know the water table has been replenished. My old bedside garden book from the 1800s says, “It’s an abohrrance for the earth to freeze dry.” The past couple of weeks, however, have been a bit dry.

I’ve already been hauling hoses around for the new plantings. Lucky for me I have several of the cloth ones for the truck. They are handy on jobsites, especially since most of the irrigation systems have yet to be activated for the coming season.

I prefer the all-rubber ones at home: they are reliable, last forever and do not become annoyingly kinked and tangled as the more expensive vinyl ones do. Isn’t this the fact of our modern world? Items cost more, are less efficient and last a fraction of the time. To wit: I am renewing my recent complaint about windshield wipers. It seems I replace them constantly. They only stop functioning in the exact spot that the driver needs. You know that has to be by design!

As I write I’m in a food court waiting for Violet to finish a class. She was in a chamber quartet concert last evening. It was a nice change for me. I get stuck in the day-to-day sometimes. Covid-19 has revealed who I really am. The lockdown of the 2020s did not really change my life. I stay home, work outside and have a pathetic social life but do not mind.

I was not a big fan of the highway in order to get to Amherst. I got all judgmental of the trucks. It’s amazing that as a society we hve such an extraordinary need for so much stuff. The amount of money involved in simply moving goods around must be astronomical.

Yikes, I better get back to gardening before I go over the proverbial cliff.

A few years ago weekly science section in The New York Times ran an article about companion planting that added to my knowledge of the subject, stuck in the 1970s.

Inter-planting cabbages and other cole crops with camomile helps deter the white cabbage moth. I did it last year with some success.

I forgot to purchase seed this early spring and went on the search locally recently with no luck. Speaking of luck: I came across a plastic jar of crushed camomile flowers in the back of the spice rack. It’s been there, literally, for years. Almost as a joke I threw them into a seed tray and, wonder of wonders, they germinated. It made me think: why couldn’t I empty a few tea bags in the cabbage patch every year? No more buying seeds and I could enjoy the rest of the box after supper.

On my trip to western Massachusetts this week, I remembered that we are always behind in the spring on the Vineyard. The Atlantic Ocean surrounding our Island has a moderating effect on our weather. Our falls stay warmer longer, but spring takes a while to catch up with the mainland.

The fruit trees were all in full bloom as well as the old-fashioned dogwoods (cornus florida). The kousas take a bit longer.

I’ve only been gone for two days but I wonder what work is waiting for me at home. I’ve been watering both the hoophouse and greenhouse daily as the baby seedlings need all the help they can get.

It gets very hot during the day but only five degrees warmer that outside at night. I am always concerned about the full moon in May. Over the years I’ve lost several tender vegetables to frost at that time.

I see on the news that Roe vs. Wade is on the chopping block.

I’m aware that this is a very sensitive topic for many.

All I can say is if a person is truly pro-life, that person should do everything possible to protect, nurture and feed the already born.

Congressional Repulicans voted to end the child tax credit and think it’s too expensive to give school-age children free lunch.

I might be more respectful of the movement if they opted to ban assault rifles to save more human lives, esepcially school-age children.

Oh yeah! How about wearing your mask to protect unvaccinated children and the immuno-compromised? Don’t forget the death penalty while you’re at it!