Out with the Old

The last couple weeks I've been focused on preparing for spring planting.  Lots of little seedlings are decorating my kitchen and spare bedroom, and I've been out at the plot every decent day we've had.  I'm working from a schedule this year; I put it together over the winter to help make sure that when beds are empty, something is ready to put in them, and when something needs to go in the ground there is a place for it.  I'm anticipating strawberry and blackberry plants will arrive this week or next week, plus next weekend I plan to plant my peas and potatoes, so I've been working hard to clear all the space where they will go in. 

Late-winter carrot harvest

One of the unexpected tasks I had to deal with last week was picking all of these leftover carrots (a little over 5 lbs).  If you don't pick them before spring they will start to form a central flower stalk, and the root (supposedly) gets kind of woody.  So far, they've been a hit - very sweet and tender, except at the very tops where the frost made them kind of crumbly.

I don't think I over-planted carrots last fall, rather I under-harvested them, buying numerous bags of baby carrots from the grocery store over the winter.  It's harder to get into the garden during the winter because the park gate stays locked December-March, and it takes a lot of time to coax two little ones across the wind-swept soccer field.  Maybe next winter I'll grow my carrot patch at home so they'll be more convenient.