icarusancalion

The strawberry plants had sat on the doorstep for about a week. The edges of their leaves were getting a little brown, and I passed them feeling a little guiltier each day. But Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday ... no time, woke up too late, no time, busy, working all day, rain.

Plus, I had a bag of manure in my car for a week. It wasn't so bad if I drove with the windows down.

Sunday S. visited, but dammit, if I didn't plant them soon, I'd lose them. There were three ripening strawberries on one of the stems. (I'd bought them from a good nursery.)

The weather report promised thunderstorms but it was sunny when S. and I, yes, woke up rather late. Again. As we ate breakfast the storm clouds gathered.

Oh no, not again....

The wind kicked up cool puffs of air as I pulled the car around to unload the manure (a priority). S. was already helping dig up the garden, discovering rocks and hard-packed clay. S. and I took turns digging, and added good manure and top soil.

Little spatters of rain started to speckle the back of our necks. I made an impromptu mound for the strawberry plants. My initial plan was to dig out the entire garden plot thoroughly. Instead we stuck 'em in the ground, mounded out the dirt around them, and ran.

The sky fell around us.

We dove inside under torrents of rain. Finished just barely in time.

It hailed. (Hailed? S. said. None of the weather reports had predicted that.) And flooded. (Floods?)

Then half an hour later the sun came out. The ground was soaked.

Well, you are supposed to water them right away.

They look pretty happy in the ground. And now there are two strawberries ripening.