In the Spring Garden

We planted potatoes and took a walkabout the garden over the weekend.  We planted some more potatoes at the community garden plot last night and still have a number left over to plant another section at home.  We're, um, planting a lot of potatoes.  We love potatoes.

The flowers are blooming.  There are tulips coming up in places we're pretty sure there have never been tulips before.  No complaints from us.  We're all for pretty flowers that grow with little to no intervention by us.

The onions are growing--the sets seem more vigorous that those Matt started from seed, but all are growing well.  There are also shallots and leeks.

The strawberries in the back bed are flowering.  So is the rhubarb--though we put a stop to that.  Two of the three containers of strawberries in the front do not look too well.  They just didn't grow back.  Its a mystery to us, but we're just going to transplant some more in there with runners since the back bed has more than enough.

Matt has three different compost piles going since we recently acquired a tumbler-style compost bin.  Even still, we can never seem to make enough compost.  We use it up so quickly.  Compost is like garden magic.

The raspberries are taking over, even popping up in the grass.  We thought the asparagus was coming back, but in the end the little green shoots turned out to be raspberries.  It was pretty funny.  Oh well, no complaints from me about too many raspberries either.  We're going to go foraging for wild asparagus anyway.

The fruit trees are leafed out and flowering on their skinny, short little branches.  I think they look adorable as they are such miniature trees.

The bok choy, in addition to being scrumptious when grilled, are also amazing little water funnels due to the arrangement of their leaves.  Its a very well designed plant.  Of course, the regular cabbages, too, are also pretty efficient in this regard.  Plants are so remarkable if we take the time to stop and look closely.

The peas are quickly climbing up to twine around the supporting frame of metal and hemp cord.  We are all out of peas in the freezer from last year.  I am getting pretty excited to pop open that first pod and taste those sweet green orbs, but I've got to be patient just a bit longer yet.

The spinach which we deliberately planted very thickly was thinned resulting in two pounds of baby spinach to eat.  So far the hoop tunnels are keeping the spinach leaf-miner free, too.  Thank heavens.

Every year is a new year in the garden.  A time to try new techniques and improve old ones, to experiment with the multitude of varietals or eagerly await old time favorites.  A time to enjoy the feel of the soil and the sun and rain.  A time to discover the great rewards earned working with the earth.  What a wonderful thing to be a part of.