Spring is upon us

Warming weather, blue skies, temps around 70F and up. Looks like spring is almost here. Tearing out the winter garden in bits. If it looks like it might bear a bit longer we let it live. Eggplants are gone, one sweet chili left with at least two fruit on it. Lots of chard, spinach, mesclun mix, beets and other greens to harvest. Will do our best for those.

Soon we will be going to our favorite garden store and picking up tomatoes, eggplant, sweet chiles, etc. Black crowder peas came in yesterday from Victory Seeds, will plant those along the back fence with string to climb. Have seeds for green beans and everything else we will plant.

The kumquat tree still has about a dozen fruit on it that will be picked tomorrow. We make a tossed salad with sliced kumquat fruit mixed in that is very tasty. Fig and pear trees are starting to put on buds. Need to prune the pear tree, to many "rain" limbs on that one. Won't take long to lop them off and set the limbs aside for possible smoking meat later in the year. We're hoping to get at least a small crop of the Tenousi pears, a mix of European and Asian pears that is supposed to be tasty. Tenousi is self pollinating according to the ag agent.

The blueberries are starting to put on buds too, seems the Christmas tree limbs we laid around the bushes are helping as they slowly turn into a nice mulch. Need to find a place to rake up a bushel or two of pine needles to help with the blueberries, they need the acid of those plants.

We've been getting some days up into the mid-seventies that make me happy. I could not survive somewhere it gets cold and stays that way for months. I guess it is because the USN ship I was on in '58-'59 was always poking around the Atlantic ice shield looking for Russian subs. Never found one but it was always cold on the bridge, my duty station. I reckon we Texans from SE Texas just never adapt to cold. I was 18 years old before I ever saw snow and that wasn't in Texas.

George

Reply to
George Shirley
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Rub it in, George. I'm getting snow, changing over to sleet and freezing rain this afternoon here in SE VA.

I am planning on getting the timer set up for my plant light and starting some seeds: broccoli, cabbage, and lettuce. Later I'll add in some tomatoes and other warmer weather seeds once we get closer to a real spring.

Last year's garden was a disaster. Planted out a month later than usual due to colder weather lasting an extra month, then in the summer it was too dry and too hot and too buggy for anything to produce well.

But we're gardeners! We'll try again next year and every year with the undying hope that things work out. Besides, it's like playing the lottery; if you don't play you can't win. Having had a few jackpot gardens in the past, a repeat is always something to try for.

Nyssa, who is staying indoors until this white stuff goes away

Reply to
Nyssa

Yeah, we're hearing the same song as yours from my wife's siblings in Southern Maryland. They've been hit with lots of snow at least twice this winter. Weird weather seems to occur at least every other year.

Last year we had tons of rain, several folks died in floods, lots of property damage. We're hoping for moderate rain this year. Doesn't cost that much to water our wee little gardens but raised beds like ours need more rain than gardens directly earth planted.

I'm down in my back again so won't be doing much stooping this season. Thank goodness for the garden seat that rolls.

Reply to
George Shirley

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