Everyone will be pleased to know my fickled mood has improved vastly since the weather is better. The calendar says it is February but outside feels like April! The trees are budding and a volunteer lettuce seed has sprouted in the warming soil. That should not be happening in February.
My neighbor who gives me horse manure has replaced his broken trailer with a new one and has brought two loads.
It is too late in the season to put a large amount on the garden since it is extremely fresh. The garden smells so pungent that it takes your breath away but I am dancing!
The garden has awakened to the glorious sunshine and is producing again.
The spinach bed has enough that we can enjoy winter salads again.
Finally! We can harvest without concern for the limited supply.
Planting has begun.
Last year it cost $60 to buy seed potatoes. I thought that was outrageous since what you are getting are unsprayed rotten potatoes. So, I saved a large amount of last year's harvest and encouraged them to sprout. Storing them in dried grass in stacked flat boxes in my basement worked great.
The potato bed is slowly being covered in raked leaves.
Seed starting has begun.
I know it is far too early to get spring fever. It could easily switch back to freezing cold and the fruit tree buds plus anything tender would be killed. However, one year spring came a month early. I had gambled and planted early expecting a late frost to wipe the garden out but it didn't. It was the best harvest ever because an extra month of growth made a huge difference. Maybe for once nature will be kind and not behave horribly like last fall. Well, at least I can hope.
What a beautiful garden. It seems like spring here, but I am sure that winter is still around the corner and that we are going to have some cold weather.
ReplyDeleteYou are right. My feelings and Mother Nature are fooling me but it feels good! We slept with a window up one night - in February! It was so relaxing smelling the warm breeze until the coyotes started howling. I jumped up and slammed the window shut.
DeleteYour seedlings are such a hopeful sign. I need to get on it here. I'm glad you are harvesting again, and enjoying it in meals. That's a neat potato sprouting method. Goodness, $60 could buy a lot of potatoes. I'm not sure what we paid, but hope it wasn't that much for seed potatoes. Happy planting!
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw the price, I hesitated for a long time. They were advertised as being treated to be virus free and safe for planting. It ended up not being that many seed potatoes but it was the right amount for my garden. I got my money back in food production but was not going to do that again. This year I shopped around in different seed catalogs and found better prices but the shipping was steep. Sprouting my own is really the way to go.
DeleteYou are already totally occupied with working in the garden. Here it is still very cold and I'm looking forward to spring to arrive. I'm a little curious, have you covered the potatoes with raked leaves because you are afraid of frosty morning?
ReplyDeleteOh Margi, you are right. I am totally occupied with the garden. It is the warm weather. I can't resist being outside.
DeleteI am covering the potatoes for three reasons: to keep weeds from sprouting, to protect against cold nights but mostly to protect them from the summer sunlight. The sunlight will turn any potatoes that push up above the soil a green color. That green color is not healthy. Some people prefer to plant them in a deep trench then push soil over on top as they sprout. I like doing it this way because I am finished. Nothing else needs to be done to them until I dig them up. I don't want to keep going back and hoeing. I hate hoeing.
Yay! Time for the new growing season! Your photos are amazing, too. :)
ReplyDeleteI checked the long range weather forecast and still no snow in our future - flooding, tornadoes and hail are mentioned, but no snow. Crazy weather.
DeleteYou are certainly ahead of me in your seed planting. I was all set to go and then we had a really cold spell. Lovely that you have crops to eat again and what a good idea about the potatoes. B x
ReplyDeleteI am at least 3 almost 4 weeks ahead of schedule. Everything is either going to be wildly successful or a major flop. Patience has never been my virtue.
DeleteJeannie dear, I am glad you're feeling more optimistic. Thanks for all the comments on my blog! I'll be looking forward to seeing what you grow this year. I just bought a garden 'tunnel' to see if that will keep the #@!! deer from munching off my greens...especially the beans and peas. Love to you, friend.
ReplyDeleteI guess you have noticed I wait until the end of the month and then read everything all at once. It is like reading a novel. Big, thick tomes have always been my favorite. If the book is good, I hate to see it end. It's like losing a good friend. I look forward to your new chapters containing the battle scenes between you and the ravenous deer. I wish you well. They are a formidable opponent.
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