Patio Vacuum and the ChickSaw

Spring is unfolding in the Southeastern U.S., and the fine weather has beckoned us to get out and start preparing our vegetable and flower gardens. Making my gardening life easier this year are two electric gizmos which streamline some of these tasks--a blower/vacuum and a cute little chainsaw that DH has dubbed the ChickSaw.

The first one, the Toro Ultra Blower Vac, now known as the Toro Electric Ultra Blower, sat in its box for quite a while before we opened and assembled it. Once we did, however, I realized that we should have opened it much sooner. The blower comes with a bag attachment, so instead of just blowing leaves and other debris around, I can take that sucker outside and vacuum the garage! Don't even think about letting me loose in the woodworking shop! It's also great for a quick cleanup on the patio, e.g., to pick up the scattered remnants of a flower-planting spree.

Never did I think I would look forward to using a chainsaw--that just seemed like a tool that was better left to the boys. Well, no more! The Black and Decker Alligator can take out a little tree faster than you can say "I wish I'd never planted that!" It's electric, it's really fast, and it's sized perfectly for me, giving rise to its new name, the ChickSaw. I was outside operating the ChickSaw one day last week, zapping little tree trunks and hooting with delight. When I ventured in, DH said, "Sweetie, are you having fun out there?"

Indeed I am.

Charlie Brown Tomatoes

Our tomato plants came in today! I'm so excited.

I always feel a little like Charlie Brown kicking the football at this time of year. DH and I get our hopes up for a great crop of tasty tomatoes, and then, just like last year, Lucy moves the football, i.e., something goes wrong and we are disappointed again.

The past couple of years were the worst. We tried growing tomatoes in those upside-down planters. As soon as we planted our beautiful tomato plants in those planters, they began looking sick. I don't know if we accidentally raised the plants out of the direct sun, or we had a fungus among us, or what. Now, a tomato expert in our area says that his brother grows them in upside-down buckets, and they do very well, so I don't know what our problem was with that.

DH even built a mesh-enclosed structure to keep the birds out. I still donate a tomato to the birds every now and then, but they don't get all of them.

In previous years, we have grown some tomatoes that we figure cost approximately $75 per tomato--no small feat. I'm not sure if they were actually worth $75 apiece, but they were yummy.

This year, we're going back to the Earth Boxes . . . . . we have many, many Earth Boxes. I have a fungicide recommended by the tomato expert, and The Roomie accidentally mentioned to me that she's a Master Gardener, so I have plans for her, too.

She'll have her hands full; our problems growing tomatoes are legend. Wish us good luck . . . and please don't touch that football.