Partly cloudy, partly sunny today. The landscape is now so very lush. The foliage is green and leafy, and yes, the fireweed is in bloom. It would be a good time to ride to Grizzly Camp and check out the fireweed, but the rain might put a damper on this – in addition to it being wet and buggy, the trails will be slippery.

Pete’s been doing a great deal around here – the other day, after waiting in town for the veterinarian to appear (he was on an emergency call, so he never showed), we went over to my friend Sarah G’s in order to drop off a few books. I figured these books might keep her occupied during her convalescence – she broke her big toe a few days ago and consequently has since been less mobile.

She limped over to her garden and together, she, Pete, and I took a close look. At first glance it appeared as though her garden was doing far better than ours. For example, her broccoli was heading out and her lettuce was quite leafy. She didn’t take any credit for this; rather, she said that the reason her garden usually does so well is because the area, which was formerly occupied by goats, had a goat manure base. I said that this was a partial reason, the other was that she had kept up with the weeding.

Alys hauling goat bedding to compost

I chided Pete because our garden didn’t seem to be as far along. This, I realized today, after taking a closer look at his handiwork, was an inaccurate observation. We have three garden areas; these consist of an upper garden, the center case of this site being the rhubarb. Pete planted spinach, swiss chard, and the Alaska State Fair plants around the perimeter. Yeah, it was weedy, but stuff was growing.

Our second garden area consists of a greenhouse that contains basil on the upper shelves and tomatoes in the concrete raised beds. All the plants in this area are doing A-Okay. The adjacent root garden isn’t doing quite as well, but it is likely that the carrots and beets will rally.

The third garden area is Pete’s pride and joy. It consists of an orchard, a raspberry patch, a hoop house, and an adjacent area. The hoop house – here’s where things are happening. The peach trees are producing peaches, and we have been eating fresh strawberries for some time. The squash and tomatoes are snaking their way up the baling twine lines, and soon we will have produce. Outside, Pete has planted potatoes, peas, cabbage, and broccoli.

I realized after leaving Sarah’s place that Pete bit off more than he could chew, so yesterday, in a rare burst of altruism, I decided to forego horseback riding and weeded. Pete started on one side of the perimeter and I started on the other. We sort of met in the middle. I stopped to harvest Dandelion greens for the horses. While working, I put the horses out of mind. I must say, weeding was actually meditative, and if I didn’t have so many animals to care for, I could get into gardening. This is quite the statement, coming from me.

Next: 191. 7/10/20: One for the Money. . . .