Yesterday, while home being a Mom to recuperating Bethany, I visited a farm stand and came away with lots of veggies and flowers. Knowing that my MO in the past was to buy them and set them somewhere, promptly killing them with neglect I knew the time was NOW to plant.
Plant I did. Honestly, I thought I would die. A nap, 2 rests, umpteen glasses of water, 4 porch breaks got me through. I exaggerate only a little, sadly. Gardening is not my thing. What I do love is having it done. And gazing at it.
Yes. The gazing.
And later? Some grazing. I hope. Roots crossed.
Back in the day, I used to have a bit of a garden in these spots but they were terribly grown over and weedy/grassy.
The first one I tackled was the shadier spot. Under the dogwood.

Basil, 2 kinds of lettuce (Romaine and buttercrisp), swiss chard (OH YUMMMM), summer squash and a hosta for good measure reside there. I found an old straggly remains of the thyme plant I had there years ago. I do believe it now lives underground, turned under as it were.

The lettuces already look delicious to me! Notice I am not weed free. Never in this yard. My friend has an immaculate yard (the kind you love to hate) and she always blames any weeds she has on her neighbor. They don't pluck their weeds and then they spread to her yard. I must be one of THOSE neighbors.
I'm over it.
On the other side of the house, I started to do a half circle shape. But about half way through, I broke my cardinal rule of gardening (Be that as it may): Do not plant in straight lines. Lines, straight or not by the end of all that planting and weeding was all it was going to get. It was that or the rubbish barrel. I do believe I may have looked at the last 2 plants with scorn as I stood there, dirt crusted under my fingernails, pressed into every crevice of my sneakers, sweat pouring off of my head and every part of my body hurting. I may have even said a swear word. But you did not hear it from me.

This is more of flower/veg mix. Tomatoes, lamb's ear, a pre existing sedum (I have never met a sedum I did not like), lupine, 2 kinds of peppers, parsley, a yellow cherry tomato and a coneflower and shasta daisy. Those last 3? Were the scurge of the day.

The pencil point of the garden, going down towards the peony. A pile of weeds still sits there. It can rot there, I tell ya. I'm done for now.
I even planted some pumpkins in the "compost" pile in the back. It's not a formal compost but more a yard waste heap that has some great soil under it's growths. Pumpkins can run wild there and should love the rich soil to spread it's roots.
I don't know how you people with big yards do it. I could use a gardener.
And today? I would expect to be sore, right? And I am. Just not where I thought I'd be. Back, legs? Sure, that's what I thought.
Nope: Wrists and feet.
Homegrown lettuce better be worth it all.
~~~
SOMEONE was watching me the whole time!

Where's the catnip??