My vegetable garden has completely gotten away from me. Last fall I planted winter rye in several beds. That is not technically true — I threw it onto some flakes of hay which I used to cover masses of weeds. It all grew spectacularly. My son, Reuben, ran a mower down the bed this past week. The rye was at least two feet tall. Oops! It was fully ensconced into the hay with zero hope of a proper turn over.

I put shovelsful of decent compost about 18 inches apart and placed my way-too-leggy tomato plants on their sides in the little piles. I used more hay to prop them into an upright position and walked away. One can only hope for the best at this point. I think Ruth Stout would be proud.

I was a huge fan of hers in the seventies. I saved every Organic Gardening magazine with articles by her. She wrote some books, one of which, How to Have a Green Thumb Without an Aching Back, was a personal favorite.

I had a wonderful discovery on Sunday. I was sitting on a five-gallon bucket weeding and preparing an area to receive my Kentucky Wonder pole beans. There were some dried up pods still on the trellis from last season. I had planted Scarlett Runner beans there last year.

Wonder of wonders, I opened a couple of pods to find sprouted beans which I promptly planted.

They hung there all last winter and still had the force of life within that seed. Nature is truly grand.

I missed my calling in advertising. When I find a good product I have to carry on about it. Heather Gardens has some A.M. Leonard rakes with wooden handles and orange tines. They are small enough to get between shrubs but the handle is long to accommodate us taller folks.

I shouldn’t even mention this since most things I like are discontinued or shipped off to China to be manufactured in a not pleasing manner. Two items this year are no longer available for me.

One is the Rub-a-Dub Sharpie pen. It’s the only one that lasts on plant markers. Both Shirley’s and Cronig’s have tried to order them for me with no success.

Then there is the Mrs. Meyer’s geranium scented scrub. It is so much better than Comet but it is no more.

I’m starting to take it personally.

It is a particularly good year for wisteria. There is a nice one threaded up into a tree about a mile before the animal shelter. The property has a new fence.

The rainy spring has been a boon for the shrubs and trees. The Kousa dogwoods are fabulous this year as are the rhododendrons. Not only have they held their blossoms for quite some time but the leaves are new and shiny. Last year they were pretty stressed. As you may recall we were very droughty all spring and summer.

I’m going on record. I love the rain. Many are complaining but I’m not one of them. No pesky hauling of hoses and I can happily work in the garden with no one bothering me. Much needs to be said about good rain gear and a bit of acceptance.

The disturbing news this past week was the results is Montana’s special election. The Democrat, a cowboy-hat wearing, guitar-playing Montana native, lost to the East Coast billionaire, Trump-supporting Republican. This seems totally predictable in very red Montana where Trump won by 20 points.

However, the aforementioned Republican winner will forever be known as the Body Slammer. He assaulted a reporter the day before the election. The reporter had the audacity to ask him about his support for the new health care law. I think we can call it Trump-doesn’t-care!

At any rate, many who voted for him thought the reporter deserved it what with being from the fake media and all.

These people sure love their Second Amendment but freedom of the press in number one seems to escape them. Sad!