More shoveling of dirt

We have reserved a hole auger from the rental place for tomorrow. We're going to drill holes for the anti-deer fence posts. We're also going to pre-drill holes for the fruit trees we'll be planting this fall (clever, huh? I mean, why rent the thing twice?).

In the meantime, I'm trying to get as much done as possible, garden-wise. I've moved all the compost into three big piles--two of which will be inside the fence, and one that's in a big bin closer to the house where we throw kitchen scraps. I've also cleared out the horrific weedy mess that used to be the pea and spinach bed, and now it's home to a second planting of carrots.

It's June and time's a-wasting. So having planted melons yesterday, I planted pumpkins today. All that's left are the ornamental gourds and the second planting of bush beans.

I went through the tomatoes and tomatilloes and re-staked what needed to be re-staked. I weeded the whole bed and took a look at the progress therein. We have a few Lemon Boy tomatoes that are getting really big! And the Rutgers tomatoes aren't far behind.

A moment of pure joy: This year, I'm trying to pick off all the flowers that crop up on my strawberry plants, because I want the plants to concentrate their energies on vegetative growth. But apparently I missed one a while back, and today I discovered a giant red strawberry. I ate it and it was spectacular. Worlds better than those so-called strawberries I've been getting at the supermarket. I suspect they want us to forget what real strawberries are supposed to taste like so we won't be dissatisfied with the crap we're buying.

I hope all of this isn't too boring, but currently it's what occupies almost all my time and mental capacity when I'm not doing interviews or writing articles. I like to intersperse physical labor with desk work because it keeps me saner and less fidgety. Working in an office has so many benefits--steady income, potential for paid travel, social interaction, etc. But I think I am compensated amply for what I miss out on. I was never any good at sitting in the same place for eight hours a day, and I suspect I wasted a lot of my employers' money by being unproductive. Now it's my time to waste or to work in. And I do a lot of both.

It looks as though my productivity has kicked in again--at least for now! I guess I did need to lie fallow for a little while. I just start to feel so guilty sometimes. I think it's because the s.o.'s fallow times rarely coincide with my own. Just when I've hit an all-time low and I've been lying in the papasan and watching bad TV for 72 hours straight, the s.o. kicks into high gear and starts mopping all the floors or building something incredible. I hear the power tools whirring and I feel like a worthless slug. But I suppose it all evens out in the end. And who's keeping score, anyway?