despite the drizzle, i took a stroll to the community garden to check up on my plot. not much has happened since my last visit. the garlic sprouts are bigger, and most of the perennials have reemerged: golden raspberry, ground ivy, mint, and violet. city tree works recently pruned some of the perimeter trees, including the mulberry next to my plot. i'm not sure if it'll make any difference though, i still expect to see a shower of mulberries come early june.

the rain made me want to go to belmont to check up on the progress of the rain barrels. even though it was only a drizzle, whatever water that lands on the house would roll off the roof and into the barrels through the gutters. i didn't want to ride my motorcycle because i didn't want to get soaking wet. i might've taken the bicycle but it was still in the back of my parents' car. my remaining option was the bus, but once my father got wind of my plan, he said he could give me a ride back to belmont since he was going home anyway (to pick up his cellphone). he dropped me off along with the bicycle (which i would ride back home later).

even though it was just a trickle of water running out from the gutter, it was a steady trickle. at first the water level wasn't high enough to reach the spigot but later on i could turn on the sillcock and get a little bit of water. the near empty barrels also made a nice echoing noise as the rainwater dribbled inside. good news is more rain is expected for tomorrow; it's one of the rare times when i'm actually hoping for even more rain!

with my sister's input, i went ahead and began sowing seeds in the first raised bed (the only one that's actually finished and ready to be used). my sister found a bunch of seeds i had from last year, seeds i had completely forgotten about, with some packets not yet opened. a raised bed is great for anyone who likes order because the box can be divided neatly into sections. i opted for 8 columns (a foot wide per column) and i used a piece of 2x4 to press down gently into the dirt to mark the borders. from right to left i planted the following: basil, lettuce "vivian", mesclun spicy mix, lettuce "iceberg a", arugula, lettuce "roman emperor", arugula, cilantro. arugula appears twice because my sister wanted more arugula. some of the seeds are really tiny, and require fine soil when i only had course; hopefully they'll still germinate. since it was still drizzling slightly, i didn't need to water. also along the back edge of the frame i planted a long row of sugar snap peas.

i put up wire fencing around the first raised bed because i didn't want the dog to walk through it (i noticed some paw prints and my sister said she saw hailey stepping around inside). 3 more full-sized raised beds need to be anchored and dirted, along with a smaller sized frame. i still haven't figured out what to do with the 4th raised bed, whether to cut it in half or not.

i relocated the dong quai from the western side of the house to the eastern side, in the space behind the garage, which currently is occupied by a field of chinese chives. this place doesn't have the best sun exposure (by afternoon it's in the shadows) but the dong quai plants can grow here unsupervised. i was surprised by their long taproots when i dug them out of the ground; this makes some sense because they're known as "female ginseng" in chinese. it's a weird plant because i've never seen it flower; it just sends up a bunch of leaves every season.

mixed in with the chinese chives i also sprinkled some dill seeds. dill can get pretty weedy, and even though it's only an annual, it scatters so many seeds that sprout the following season that it basically becomes an established perennial.

i left belmont after 6:00, making sure that when i got back home my roommates wouldn't be around since they'd be at the basketball game. i figured i'd have about 4 hours to myself. so what do i do with my free time? i clean the house of course! i did some vacuuming, picking up the steady accumulation of hair on the bathroom floor (since victor's been here, he's had two homemade haircuts). after a shower, i ate the vietnamese sandwich my mother gave me for dinner (my aunt bought them when she went to chinatown earlier today).

game 2 between the celtics and the knicks was another close one. with chauncey billups on the injury list and amare stoudemire sidelined after back spasms, there really wasn't a good reason for the game to be this close. this should've been an easy victory, possibly giving boston the chance to rest its starters for the next game and let the bench players get some playing time. it makes me worried that even with a depleted new york lineup, the celtics still had problems in securing a win.

i've seen the first episode of HBO's game of thrones three times already. sunday night can't arrive soon enough! i know i can probably cheat and read the book to find out what happens next, but i don't want to spoil any surprises.