TREE SWEATERS

Are you ever surprised and amused by what odd things people do?  I am all the time and I love to see humor used in the weirdest ways.   On Sunday we drove into Philly to just walk around the city and enjoy ‘town’.  We discovered that the Italian Market Festival was being held that day and strolled through the large crowd and smelled the smells of Little Italy.  Every vendor that lined the street offered Italian dishes, cheeses, spices, oils and fresh produce.  Beautiful cut flowers and potted tomato plants  were being sold on the warm and mucky day.  The weather forecast threatened scattered showers, but luckily, the rain held off and our umbrellas went unused.  After walking down Fabric Row and Society Hills, we had a great dinner and then headed back to the car.  That’s when I saw one of the oddest things ever.  Somebody had hand crocheted sweaters for their two trees out in front of their townhouse.  I never thought that trees would need to stay warm around here and if that were the case, I’d have a lifetime of knitting for our three acres of poplar trees.  At 80+ feet, a tree sweater would look like leg warmers! 

Nearby there was a great community garden filled with blooming irises and vegetables of every description.  It was well tended and looked to be a popular neighborhood meeting place.  I think that if I lived in the city, I would have to find a community garden to join.  I couldn’t live without getting my hands dirty somewhere.  A Topsy-turvy balcony garden just wouldn’t cut it. 

So, between helping my son rehab his house on Saturday and enjoying Philadelphia on Sunday, I didn't have time to get out into my own garden.  In the spring, there is always so much to do and I now have a huge pile of wood chip mulch waiting for me.  It appears from looking at the 10 day forecast that I will have to wait until next week to do anything serious out there.  Last night I left the hoophouses open in hopes that the rain would water the tomatoes and peppers.  I think that it is warm enough, although I worried over them like a mother hen.  But this morning, the plants seemed none the worse for wear and I think that by next week, I'll be able to take down the hoophouses for the summer.  We'll see, as this has been a cool, late spring.  The Swiss Chard is ready to bolt and I'll cut it all down today, between the raindrops.  I hate to do that because that will be the end of it until the newly planted chard gets large enough to eat.  This spring I also planted head lettuces and I am surprisingly pleased by it. I like its neat, compact way of growing and makes my garden more organized than it really is. The Oakleaf Lettuce is especially beautiful.  The other bed of loose greens is totally overgrown and we are getting tired of our constant diet of salad, if that is possible.  I'll be cutting all that down too, feeding the neighborhood, and getting the bed ready for the pole beans.  The slugs are grazing on the lettuce so I'll treat them to a pan of Bud.  They can drown their slimey little worries in beer.  What a way to go!