Wednesday, March 26, 2008

In the garden


No snow today and no rain either. In fact the sun shone and with the sun on one's back it actually felt warm - even warm enough to do without the gardening hat.

I spent the afternoon in the garden. Above me birds in the skeletal trees tweet out a chorus of sorts. The brown dog goes a-mousing. In the near distance lambs and ewes basked in the sunshine - near perfect weather for them I suppose.

Today was a day for worshiping the Gods of the Vegetable Garden - gently forking the beds over and teasing out the few weeds which remain before raking to a fine tilth. If nothing else it looks orderly. A few broad beans were sown last week (I should have known better perhaps) and today I pressed a few onion sets firmly into place with the brusque instruction: 'Grow damn you. Grow.'

There's no getting away from the fact that, while shoots are stirring, everything is still very, erm, brown. After a couple of hours vis a vis with soil it was a pleasure to come indoors and find these daffodils. At first I thought them gaudy and blowsy - a 3-for- 2 bargain; but now in the late afternoon, transfused with light, they glow - soft and warm. If this day were night I could hold these flowers like a ball of moonshine.

4 comments:

Elizabeth Musgrave said...

I am planning to get the shallots in tomorrow and have broad beans sprouting in the greenhouse. We just need some warmth don't we? It was great to read this having seen your garden and being able to see it in my head.

Sally Townsend said...

I actually love those daffodils, anything that resembles sunshine and eminates cheer is wonderful !!

Claire said...

Fingers in the soil feels so elemental shallots and spring onions are next here. Daffs are everywhere in Cornwall, in gardens,on the roadside and fields of them all around.

Pam said...

No daffs here yet - just snowdrops and crocuses so far.
I know what you mean about daffodils and their "gaudiness" - it's the same with Wordsworth's poem about them - it's common and cheery and a big gaudy too - but I still love it.
I foolishly seeded my tomatoes indoors last week and now have 3 inch leggy things straggling over the sides of the pots. I do it every year because I'm too impatient to get gardening!