It's going to be a hot one today

It's estimated to reach 83 degrees today- yikes! I've spent the better part of the morning using my kitchen timer and moving my sprinkler around the front and back gardens. While the majority of the back garden has been watered, I'm prioritizing out front- trees first, flower beds second. The soil is still very dry, which makes it a little harder to pull out the tiny maple trees sprouting everywhere. According to drought.gov, the portion of Connecticut I live in is under a severe drought. (I hadn't actually planned to spend the day watering and I'd like to go out and run some errands soon.) I need to buy wood to create a new grow bed for lettuce, and I need to buy more Fafard dirt.

I'm wondering if I'm going to get much of anything when it comes to cool weather crops this spring. Even though I am ahead of where I am last year (my first lettuce crop photo was taken April 25), these hotter than normal days are not ideal for spinach, lettuce and peas. (That's the March 19 sowing shown above, taken four days ago. They are taking their sweet time to grow).

I did sow my tomato seeds yesterday, and I have some peppers and eggplants seeds that are already growing under the grow lights in the kitchen. The ageratum seedlings and geranium seedlings are starting to bloom, and the ageratums are out living in the greenhouse now. (I haven't used my cold frame for much storage this year.) Yesterday was tricky when the wasps tried to build a nest in there, but luckily they didn't get too far and I knocked it down when they were gone for a moment. Rob ordered the large decoy wasp nests to hang since I really don't want to spray. So now our neighbors are going to think we have a major infestation-- hopefully the wasps will, too, since apparently they are territorial!

While dragging the sprinkler around the front yard, I found that someone has been chewing my tulips off at the bud. They're a little tall so I'm not convinced it's a rabbit. I know a groundhog/woodchuck is in the area (two years ago my neighbor told me she let them live under her shed and last year she said "something" was living inside her shed, hmm) so my guess is that it is him. Usually I have someone nibble on that side of the front garden every year, so he must be delighted with the tulip additions.

The timer beckons...