Carpe utcunque humido

According to Wikipedia, 
"In 'Horace', the phrase, Carpe Diem, is part of the longer Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero – "Seize the Day, putting as little trust as possible in the future", and the ode says that the future is unforeseen, and that instead one should scale back one's hopes to a brief future, and drink one's wine."


Well, no kidding Horace. The green stars have not been in alignment for me this gardening season. We have been soggy, we have had pests and more pests, and a wonderful new addition to our family. All of these have created a wonderful playground for blogging ideas, however, they have not been very conducive to effective gardening. Gardening with a little one has been one of the greatest challenges over all. 


My dear partner in gardening, my husband, has more than taken up the slack for me. I got the big beds prepped, but he made the pumpkin / watermelon bed, planted the potatoes and weeded the entire yard. Not a task for the weak at heart (or back). Everything is ready to go and last year I had everything mapped out. Seeds were planted indoors and fragile seedlings were hardened and then planted with love into the the fertile soil. Mounds were made when the temperature was "just perfect" so I could place the seeds into the warming ground where they could germinate into strong, fruit-bearing plants. Each task completed at it's orchestrated time that was designated on my Excel spreadsheet and in my beautiful, new gardening journal. Gardening bliss.


This year, Horace and I came to terms with the reality of a new baby and gardening. Sunday was my day. Sunday. I had about 3 1/2 hours between feedings, 8 seedlings, $150+ in seeds and a bag of complete fertilizer. Did I mention it was raining? Why of course it was! But I had work to do. Polar fleece pants, sweatshirt, baseball cap, rain gear and garden boots, I set out to complete my task. The almost-4-year-old wanted to join me and I thought, "Great!". He gave up after 10 minutes in the rain. "Mom, I am hungry." Whatever, deep sigh. We will have to work on that...later. Right then, I was busy getting things planted and off he trotted to his dad inside the warm, dry house. 


Quiet.
Peace.
Dirt. (ok, mud)
Seeds.
Me.


Time to roll. ‎5 types of pumpkin (one variety says it can grow to 800 lbs, HA!), zucchini, yellow squash, patty pan, lettuce, spinach, marigolds, watermelon, chard, butternut squash, delicata squash, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, carrots, oregano and chives. IN. THE. GROUND. 


So proud.


I know in my little gardener heart, that this isn't the way you are "supposed" to do it. Everything has it's perfect moment to be planted. But this was MY moment that I had. We will see what grows this year. I had to seize the moment because I did not know when this moment would present itself again. So Carpe Diem and more appropriately, Carpe utcunque humido (loosely translated: seize this moment, regardless of how wet it is).

The asparagus bed and potato boxes

big beds with cloches

strawberries working their magic in barrels

the infamous bed of LB (he's back)

Yikes, I might need to weed the raspberries. 

Any suggestions about how to do that with a baby on your back?

The new pumpkin / watermelon bed :)