Saturday Gardening for an Insomniac

or should I say WITH the Insomniac?

So I didn't sleep last night. Again. Not the first time, won't be the last time, I'm sure. This is one of the many problems I face living with chronic pain. And for the last month, living with a child who has been continually sick. But it's not all darkness and sleepless nights. There is gardening too.

I did manage to get outside today for about 2 hours, just as the Sun was rising. I  had forgotten how lovely sunrise could be. There's nothing quite like the still of the morning with the birds singing and the squirrels running around before the townsfolk have awakened. It was certainly a peaceful time. Just me, my thoughts, and nature.

So what did I manage to do today? I pulled a few weeds in the back bed, pruned pepperville in hopes of spurring new growth, thinned out some squash and cucumber leaves to allow more light and air to get to the smaller plants at their feet. I also played bee and attempted to pollinate a couple of butternut squash flowers. That is the only one of my squashes putting on female flowers so far. The pumpkin I had either wasn't fully pollinated or it got a disease shortly after and turned yellow and died off. I'm hoping to get some zucchini production this year since Kitty loves them with stewed tomatoes.

After that I checked the nightshades for harvestable goods but alas I left empty-handed with only the hope of harvests yet to come. From there I proceeded to pull out all the forsythia sticks my mom and I planted this spring that had not rooted and had finally did off. Then I pruned back the forsythia tree in my front yard that was encroaching on my front bed access and light and then the bushes at my compost bin behind the shed. What else... I deadheaded yellow dwarf marigolds at the steps, picked off the last few edible romaine leaves and some basil for Kitty. Then I located my misplaced coffee cup and headed inside where I found my son awake after only about 4 hours of sleep. Maybe it's genetic.

Other than that relatively productive morning after a long night I managed to get a 4 hour nap in and when i awoke, instead of working on my fall garden plan I played on G+ and watched far too many gardening videos on youtube.

So, here I lay with my swollen feet up, recording and sharing for all the earth to see what I will forget in just a few days.

But alas, before I can rest tonight, I must make an attempt to work on my garden plan.