I put the tomatoes and marigolds in the ground today. The soil in the second planter settled a fair bit over the winter – as expected – so needed topping up. The need to get soil got me thinking about a wagon. We live about 300m away from the hardware store, and the same distance from the open air market in our neighhourhood. Last night I went to the CTC to buy a wagon so that I could transport soil from the hardware store. Don’t ask. Since I was driving to the CTC anyways, I could have just bought soil at the same time, but I’ve frequently had reason to miss the wagon we hauled Nick around in. This one’s a beaut with big pneumatic tires and over 200 lbs of hauling. I was talking to my neighbour about how I shouldn’t have parted ways with the wagon when Nick outgrew it and he noted that he still has his kids’ wagon. As I think about it, I think that’s Nick’s wagon that we gave him. Hm.

I was going to note my epiphany that wagons are an important urbanism tool, allowing people in 15-minute neighbourhoods to haul heavier loads on foot, but I’m sure that’s well-covered ground. We get pumpkins and plants from the Market, and as I get older hauling a propane cylinder on my shoulders is getting less bearable. Now I’ve got a wagon.

The plants aren’t dead yet after a few hours. The Gold Medals don’t seem to have liked the shock, but I’ve never come across a tomato plant that I could kill. I’m curious to see how the marigolds that I sprouted fare. They look great and I expect I’ll see those flower within a week. Natalie picked up a bunch of marigolds to use as centrepieces at an event, but didn’t wind up needing them, so they’ve gone into the garden. 

Now we just wait for tomatoes.