Monday, March 28, 2011

In the Pink





The ornamental plum tree outside the kitchen window, above, and one of the camellias, below.  I am not sure if I have simply planted an abundance of early spring pink, or whether pink is the color of early spring?  Pink and yellow, those colors of baby bonnets, new hatched chicks, and Easter eggs.  And spring.

Reminder

Note to self: you planted onions inside the veggie garden, against the fence where the peas were last year.  Remember not to plant anything on top of them, since you forgot to mark the planting!

Friday, March 25, 2011

First of Asparagus

You say it is the 25th of March?  No, today is the First of Asparagus.  It follows closely on the First of Chive, and it is about a month before we will see the First of Pea.

Those two precocious asparagus shoots were steamed and divided between three people, the smallest of whom only nibbled the top of his shoot, like a hesitant bunny.  I reached over to his plate, stole the remaining bit, and ate it.  Spring is very tasty.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Spring planting


There are broccoli seedlings under the cloches, and right in front of them (too fragile to see) are little leeklets.  It is a bit of an experiment to see if the cloches will indeed protect the plants enough to be useful.  Planted two patches of peas, too, along the fence on either side of the west gate. 

Things are up and growing - here are the chives, the first edible to arrive in my garden:

And lest I forget that mid March is mud season, and despite the daffodils and camellias and buds on the apple trees, it is still a very ugly time in my garden, I offer this reminder:
Early spring is so full of the small miracles, the little beauties, and I am always peering closely to see...and I don't often look at the overall garden, which in March is such a wretched wreck.  It isn't often that you want to miss the forest for the trees, but this is one of those times.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Springing


It is springing.  Camellias are tight pink buds, and bloom swiftly in the warmth of the house.  Daffodils are up and singing their yellow song in sunny corners.  Rose leaves are just barely appearing on the canes, and the new currants have tiny red buds at their tips.  One huge old butterfly bush has gotten ahead of itself, and has leafed out in full.  It thinks it is May. 

In another week, the apple trees tell me, there will be blooms on the apple trees to pair with this daffodil as it opens.

The long wait is over, and life begins again.

Friday, March 4, 2011

The Enemy

Bindweed roots.  Found them in a layer of soil on top of a piece of landscape fabric that was protecting the strawberries and asparagus, and I pulled them out one by one.  You know what they remind me of?  Pictures of parasitic worms, and they are just as nasty.  This small pile was inhabiting a 2 square foot plot of earth - how many thousands of roots are still out there?

Makes me long for Roundup.