A garden, another bird, and a sky on fire

I had this brilliant idea that I would fence off a little vegetable garden in the corner of the new big fence. Cutting off the corner would make it easier for Hub to mow back there, the inside fence would keep the dogs and other critters out, and I would have easy access to my garlic, tomatoes and rhubarb. It was a brilliant idea until I discovered that this one little corner must be an old stream bed. Planting the garlic was not a big deal, or else I forgot how hard it was because I planted them in the fall. The rhubarb was easy as well because it was just 2 small bits transplanted from somewhere else.

But the tomatoes... It took me almost 6 hours to dig up just the bit where the 6 Brandywine tomatoes are in the ground. The soil itself is not bad, but there are so many rocks compacted tightly in that soil that I could not get the big shovel more than an inch or 2 in the ground. The big shovel worked well for digging up the sod and weeds, but I had to sit and do the real digging with the little yellow-handled shovel which has sawtooth edges. All those rocks in the pic came from just in the tomato patch. And they do not include the large rocks that I added to the fire pit.

Note to self: Check out the soil condition before you go putting up fences.

Since May has been a birding month here on the blog, I saw my first Indigo Bunting yesterday morning in one of the blooming apple trees. Then I saw him again this morning. I thought it was going to be my first bluebird sighting—I hear there are a lot of them up here but I have never seen one. My first little blue bunting was just as exciting.

Last night's sky featured a flaming sun. It is burning much brighter in the photo than it really was, but still a beautiful night until the storm clouds rolled in. Thunderstorms on and off today, watering my Brandywines and rocks.