As i have said in the past, i really don't dance very well and the weather has been rather wet here so i've been in a conundrum (sort of like those winter doldrums that cause cabin fever or is it the other way around?) as to when to start tilling. BUT yesterday the back field felt sort of dry enough to work. SOOOO after breakfast i went and hitched up the tiller to my friend JD and we headed down to the first field. Now we covered the fields last fall with pine straw to keep down the weeds since we have mild winters here on the Shore. Seldom does it get below 20 and a hard frost is a rarity. This leads to a prime time for weeds in the tilled areas. AND the pine straw makes for some great compost when it is turned in. SOOOO very gently JD and i started into the first plot and found the going less that perfect but still doable.
3 hours later we were done with the 4 plots we will work this year, Widened each plot by 2 feet, and cleared an old plot so it is ready for overseeding and fruit trees later this season.
The down side to all of this was the temperature. Last week had been in the 70's and clear. Yesterday morning broke at 31 deg, breezy, and a light frost. One of the popular Shoreisms is "If you don't like the weather now, just wait twenty minutes". This is definitely an area of serious changeable weather. With luck, the forecast rains over the next few weeks will perk in but the tilling will let the surface dry a little quicker. Ground temp this morning is down to 49 deg. Tomatoes, Peppers, and Eggplants are doing well. Broccoli and Cauliflower have not sprouted yet.
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