Signs of Spring

Bulb bed by the back door, just beginning to color up

 
Some beautiful signs of spring are popping up all over the yard.

New garden bed on the southeast side of the house

The new garden bed is shaping up.  The bulbs I planted last spring are starting to pop up, R and I put in a row of pavers we found behind the shed, and I've been spreading coffee grounds when I can get them.  The soil test for this area came back clean, with low lead levels and a nice pH level - 6.0.  I'll be planting my potatoes here this year, and probably some sweet potatoes, too, if I can grow some slips.

 

 

 

 

Raspberry buds sprouting

Self-sown lettuce in the cold frame bed

My self-sowing lettuce struck again.  This little patch popped up last spring, along with a few others that I buried in compost to refresh the bed.  I took these 6 plants and separated them this week; if they survive I will leave them in place and let them flower again to make new lettuce last year.  I also saved some seeds from a plant last year and recently had 7 out of 9 germinate, so they will be my backup.

Lenten rose in bloom

Garlic sprouts

 Last spring a Japanese man from the community garden gave me some garlic plants and I saved four of them for planting in my backyard, but they didn't survive the transplant...or so I thought.  Then last fall all these little babies started popping up.  I'm not sure if I should now transplant them out the community garden where they'll get more sun, or thin them to a reasonable spacing and hope for the best.  Maybe I'll do both.

Flowering branch bud

While taking the boys for a walk the other day I encountered a pile of trimmings from someone's tree that just looked like they were desperate to bloom.  So I brought some home and put them in water, where they have proceeded to break out of their shells and color up.  Hopefully I'll have some blossoms to show sometime this week.  Even if I don't, though, it's been fun watching them progress.