Right there with you, Karen. I've already lost 2 days this week; I'm heading out now regardless. Hopefully the moist soil will make weeding easier.

Lunch break. I'm starving.

It's awful out there- cold, dreary, wet, occasional drizzle to light rain. My clothes are damp, bluejean hems wet, garden gloves wet despite having rubber palms and fingers. My waterproof gardening shoes aren't waterproof any more, you could wring out my socks. Now inside for lunch, I'm wearing my fuzzy polartec slippers to thaw my toes.

I really shouldn't be digging at all in my wet clay, but can't delay any longer. I'll get back out there soon.

Karen

Finally- Done! My wintersown jugs are gone. Most remaining ones were easy because they only had a sprout or two.
Also planted out a few leftover indoor plants, too. I weeded like there was no tomorrow, but still have a lot of that to do. My "weeds" are volunteer trees- the birch babies are the worst with their long tap roots. I also get a lot of maple and oaks. Also still weeding out verbena bonariensis (been trying to get rid of it for 3 years), larkspur, nigella, nicotiana, cosmos... all stuff that I stupidly planted deliberately. Now I can't get rid of them.I think I found my first melampodium and coral nymph salvias of the year, too, but I want a few of those. I count on them.

I worked out there in the cold and wet from 9 to 5:30 today. I accomplished a lot. I'm tired, my bad leg is killing me, but it feels good to have finally made progress. And I got the new Lee Child book from the library tonight, so life is good!

Karen

good for you Karen.. I haven't even begun planting yet

YAY Karen. I also got my WS jugs planted today and some weeding done. It was too wet to do any further planting. Still have tons to do, and am hoping for good weather the remainder of the week. Hope you get a good night's rest tonight--you deserve it.

I slept like a rock. Worked in the yard for a few hours today. Looks like rain moving in again.
I have to shower then go tend to my Mom soon.

Karen

Finally a decent day here, too. It was supposed to be sunny, with rain tomorrow. However, it was overcast (which I actually prefer for working out in the garden) and it is starting to drizzle. But, I got a good 8 or 9 hours in today. Got many of my annuals and all of my herbs planted; potted up some things for the MG herb beds, and got a few containers planted. Up next: refresh Earthboxes and get my tomatoes, peppers and eggplant in. It's supposed to be nice Sat and Sun, (we'lll see) so hopefully can finish up then.

Wow, Karen and others--you actually can work from 9 to 5:30!! That's a LOT of hours of physical labor. I find that I can do about 4-5 hours straight and then I have to limp inside to dry out/warm up. You guys are amazing.
I've spent the past three days madly potting up my UL seedlings. (There are also some WS seedlings that are still in my jugs, but at least I eye-balled them and know what I have.) The UL seedlings aren't quite ready to go in the ground--our last frost-date is May 25--so I stuck them into some little plastic greenhouses to harden off.
My wintersowing results weren't as good this year, either. I set out about 60 jugs. So many jugs just stayed too damp (or something) and seeds didn't germinate--got 1-2 seedlings in them. But I did have lots of WS Calendula "Citrus Cocktail" and after this forum's advice, I planted the seedlings out two weeks ago and they're doing just fine!
Funny how Mother Nature can keep us guessing. Or at least me.

Emily, my stamina varies. But the time I can make available for the garden is pretty limited sometimes, and, at this time of year, the drive is there. Once the real heat hits, dividing and moving perennials, or planting new plants, gets tough on the plants. A few days ago, we were only having high temps of barely 60. Now, the forecast is for 80s . It can get here suddenly, and I have a real advantage if I can beat the heat. I've been totally ignoring housework, laundry, etc. I won't tell you what my house looks like now.

Still so much to do out there, too. I have to get my compost spread, then mulch. Mulching is my least favorite garden job.

Karen

HA! Can't even tell you how much housework I've ignored in the last month. I took this week off work specifically to get everything planted, so I will work til it's done. Otherwise, it's so difficult to get anything done after work.....just not enough time with other obligations. Fortunately, my husband picks up most of the housework while I'm out in garden. If given a choice, he'll choose the inside work every time!

However, my back is aching and the bathtub is calling.........

My husband isn't so keen on cleaning. Doesn't mind dirt, doesn't seem to see it. But I do the cooking, and he does the dishes. He's a good grocery shopper, and does that more than I do. He's a disaster on laundry- that's strictly mine. I clean whatever I can get done. I do have a cleaning service come in twice a month, and that's a blessing. (Without that, I wouldn't work). So every other Friday, I come home to a (relatively) clean house.

He cuts the grass but the actual gardening is all mine. He doesn't care for it, doesn't know crap about plant care, but will help me dig out things I can't get, move things, carry mulch, etc. It has worked well for us for 30 years.

Karen

Yep, the yard is definitely my domain We hire out the lawn mowing, and the past few years I've also had them do the bed clean-up and mulching after I'm done planting. I'm getting too old to spread 13-15 yards of mulch every year.

Fortunately, he supports me in other ways, so it works. Last year when I broke my ankle at the start of the gardening season, Michael really stepped up and did all of the planting (with my direction). He continued to water throughout the season. No complaints here! He does WAY more laundry than I do, and actually likes to clean the kitchen and vacuum. I'm so thankful he enjoys our yard and is willing to pick up other chores while I'm out playing in the dirt.

Wow, I'll take him.

I've thought about paying someone to mulch. But aside from the fact than I'm cheap, I don't trust anyone around my plants. (Like, those tiny wintersown seedlings which are so tiny when planted out. I'm afraid a stranger would mulch over them). Paul does more mulching than I do, but I try to work side-by -side with him so I can tell him "No! That's not a weed!"

I do wish he liked gardening as much as I do, though.

Karen

Randy likes to watch the flowers grow... would never weed... but wheelbarrows the mulch for me... digs the big holes for me... and does boulder removal

I can say he is getting an opinion about some things we grow... he has done some damage shopping with me this year... and he loves his 6 foot lily... and the 10 foot cosmos we grew last year... he actually measured the lily growth and wrote it down on the calendar every week... I am happy whenever he shows interest

Karen...I'm lucky in that we started with a guy who was starting a mowing service...we were one of his first customers. Later, he started adding a few services like mulching and bed-edging. His crew takes so much care to mulch around my 100s of plants---I try to mark anything really small, but they are awesome!

Isn't t great when our husbands find something that piques their interest? Michael likes watering because he can put on his Ipod and have 1/2 hour of "quiet time". Granted, I did have to teach him how to water, but now he does a great job. I'm so thankful he appreciates the effort I put into our yard, and is willing to do the inside work so I can be playing outside.

So interesting to read other folk's experiences. We all share some commonality--and some differences! I'm married to another Paul; this one who has NO interest in gardening, but who also doesn't begrudge my time and $$, not to mention the sheer space that all the seedlings take up during the late winter/early spring.
And he's not obsessive about house-cleaning.
So I should count my blessings.

Yep, we've got to appreciate the "significant others" that allow us to do our thing without reservation. Michael has never once blinked at the $ I spend each year on our yard, but comments every day how much he enjoys it. I'm so thankful he's supportive of my time "away" from our normal housework. My time I dedicate to Master Gardeners is significant and he does not even blink at how much time I spend.

Karen--we need approximately 13 yards of mulch each year...I'm getting WAY too old to be wheelbarrowing that stuff! My husband has a seriously bad ankle, so walking on uneven surfaces (like lawns) is torture for him. It's much faster and easier to hire it out. Granted, having someone that is very careful around your plants is important...I try to mark my stuff as much as possible (at the very least so I can dig it out if need be). All in all, though, these guys do an awesome job. Sometimes, you just gotta let it go, even if it's not done as perfectly as you would do it.

We stopped getting truck loads of mulch a few years ago. I find bags a lot easier to work with. I only buy a few bags at a time so that I don't have a mountain of mulch blocking my driveway for days. I don't own a wheelbarrow. I have no place to store one. And conveniently, our next door neighbors are our best friends and the guy is a home builder who happens to have 3 wheelbarrows stored under his deck. When I need a wheelbarrow I just go take one! And he doesn't mind if I keep it for a few days or even weeks.

My garden "cart" is a kid's plastic sled. It hangs on the wall in the garage and takes up no room. I can load on compost or a bag of mulch or whatever and pull the rope to haul things around my yard. I love it. It's much lighter and easier for me than a wheelbarrow. I can only move smaller loads myself anyway so it meets my needs.

Don't laugh at me until you try it

Karen

oh I won't laugh... we used a kids plastic wagon to move huge boulders around after they installed our retaining wall... some of them would barely fit on the thing... and to get them around on our slopes was pretty funny... just glad neither of us got hurt... was some funny ones that he is pushing I am pulling to move the thing... slipping on the grass on your face kind of heavy... and just laughing trying not to hurt yourself all at the same time... that recycled plastic wagon was great.. the sides came off and was flat other than where the rails connected... it lived fora few years and we finally killed it and the tires blew out.. they were plastic too

Mine is just a flat sheet of plastic, kind of like a toboggon . It's a lot easier for me to move over the lawn than a full wheelbarrow, the weight of which I can't balance.

It's like this, but shorter. I had a long one like this but it bit the dust after many years of use.
http://www.sledwarehouse.com/I...

Karen