Peel Away the Layers

The weather gods have finally smiled upon us and this weekend was a perfect example of the quintessential New England spring.  Sunshine, warm but not hot, people emerging from their homes like bears from their dens to greet the new season.  Raking has been my first order of business, and there's no shortage of that.
Normally I like to "put my gardens to bed" in the fall, meaning I cut back all the dead stems and leaves so the gardens are clean and fresh come spring.  I learned that leaving gardens as they are and letting nature take its course is much more beneficial to birds and insects over the long winter.  I saw evidence of this by leaving my perennial sunflower bed alone - the amount of birds that took advantage of the seed heads over the winter was amazing.  According to what I've heard, the best practice if you're aiming to provide protection for insects and small critters like salamanders is to leave your gardens in their natural state until you have at least two or three days above fifty degrees, to ensure these little guys have woken up and begun moving around, so they can find shelter elsewhere when disturbed.
Thanks to the late snow and undulating temperatures, many of my plants were vigorously growing beneath the leaf litter.  I'll admit I'm not the most gentle of gardeners (I call myself The Savage Gardener because I honestly have no patience.) and I tend to injure tender greens when raking.  I try to get out before perennials get too big, but sometimes that just doesn't happen.  I did pull a few tendrils, and break a few shoots, but more plants than not made it through my assault.
One of the small front gardens revealed more green than I had expected; peonies, daffodils, tulips, foxglove, and horseradish were all working away under that brown blanket.

 

There is still some ice and snow within the leaf litter, so some of the beds are a work in progress.  They should be completely cleaned by this coming weekend.

The main section of my holding bed was also busy, with variegated Jacob's Ladder, tulips, daffodils, coral bells, and more poking up through the ground.  No sign of my trillium yet, but hopefully it'll emerge soon now that the sun can warm the dirt.

I had cleaned off my strawberry bed a little too soon, so I may have killed off my strawberry plants.  Time will tell!  This is also where the perennial sunflowers are thickest.  I used an antique metal weed whacker to hack down the long stems and found that I'm less than proficient with that particular tool.  By the time I was done I had whip marks across my face and hands from the woody stems springing back violently as I swung the whacker back and forth.  Next time I'll use my lawn mower and spare myself the beating.

Next I'll move on to the Pollinator Plus Strip, which is mostly just gravel from the plow truck to deal with, and a few leaves mashed up against the fence.  My goal this year is to mulch the entire bed, which should take quite a while.

The mules are eager for the pasture to be opened up, but they'll have to wait a few more weeks.  The green is coming, but slowly.

After the front yard is done, it's off the back yard.  Never a dull moment!

Spring...?

What a nasty little storm that was.
Luckily we didn't get the feet of snow the upper Midwest did, but it was a mess none the less.  Sleet, freezing rain, and rain mixed together to make for treacherous driving conditions and a miserable 48 hours.  The snow is so sticky, the poor mules are battling massive snow and mud balls building up in their feet.  As soon as one drops off, another starts building up.  Everything is sopping wet and cold and miserable. 
I was hoping since we only had a skim of sleet built up on the gravel road, that the town plows wouldn't come through.  Unfortunately they did, but they seem to have taken pity on those of us who have started our spring roadside clean up efforts, because they plowed right down the middle of the road.  I should only have minor dirt and debris to clean off the edges when this slop finally melts.

 

                                                             And yet, life goes on. 

 

These were a pleasant surprise to discover - I'd forgotten that I had planted tulips in the front garden!
Hopefully this winter mess will be gone in a day or so.  The meteorologists are saying warm and sunny for the weekend, which I welcome with open arms.

Yard Therapy

Ahhh, the sore back and arms that come from a day of spring raking.  It feels so good to get out of the house and start on yard work.  I've raked along the outsides of the fences on both sides of the house, cleaned up the main paddock a little, moved some downed limbs and branches, raked the head of the path to the cemetery, and cleaned up around the little stone planter at the corner.  I took it slow and steady, had a few breaks, and am feeling accomplished.  The best part about being out in the yard is all the neighbors who stop to chat when they're driving by, or honk and wave as they pass, or stop to catch up while they're out doing their own yard work.  Every corner of the neighborhood is beginning to stir after a long winter.  The only downside is that we're looking at snow, sleet, ice, and rain for the next two days.  Ugh!  Spring is such a little tease.  At least I'll sleep well tonight, and dream of all the bits of green I've seen poking from under the leaf litter.  Next up, cleaning out the gardens.  I can't wait!

Chilly Start

I'm glad I didn't uncover my gardens this past weekend - look at what greeted us this morning:

 

 That would be frost on the lawns...yuck!  And our weather continues to run like a roller coaster for the rest of the week.  I'm waffling back and forth on whether or not to uncover my perennial beds over the next few days.  We'll see temps in the 50s, so plants will be responding, but we're also expecting highs only in the mid 30s with a wintry mix on Sunday.  Decisions, decisions...

And She's Off

I've set up my little greenhouse and I couldn't be more happy!  I'm always giddy when I begin the growing season...if only I could harness this enthusiasm and mete it out throughout the year.  Oh well!

I purchased this inexpensive greenhouse at Ocean State Job Lots for $20 about three or four years ago.  I like that it's easy to set up and even when I have a multitude of plants in it, it's still light enough to move by myself.  Once we start getting really warm days I move it on to my porch, then bring it back inside during the night.  When nights begin staying above 40*F I'll leave it out there, and when the plants are strong enough I'll begin hardening them off by leaving the door up to acclimate them to the outside temperatures.  By the end of May or early June they should be ready for transplanting.  Remember the rule of thumb for planting in the northeast - wait until after the last full moon of May to plant, usually the danger of a hard frost is over by then.  Though, I've seen June come in with sweater weather, so you can never be 100% sure. 
For my first round of plants I've planted 8 beefsteak tomatoes, 4 Roma tomatoes, 8 sweet peppers, 36 Cleome, a small pot of basil, and two window boxes of the mesclun/arugula/mustard green mix.  I've moved the catnip into the greenhouse because it was in danger of being over eaten and the other pot is a sad attempt at propagating my hibiscus by seed.  Don't think that one will take, but you never know.  In a week or so I'll start a second round of mesclun and some spinach, as well as a few more tomatoes.  I haven't grown cherry tomatoes in years, so maybe I'll try some of those.  It feels so good to get started after this long, drawn out winter!

Get Ready, Here It Comes

Maybe.
Spring will be here soon.
MAYBE.
What fresh new hell have I awoken to this morning?

Ugh. 
Well, I can't really complain.  Spring snow on bare ground is what the old timer's call "poor man's fertilizer".   A few days ago I gathered up all the bags of waste hay and seed that I've been sweeping up in the barn all winter and scattered it around the bare spots in the pasture.  We had a decent rain that day to hold it down, and then this dusting of snow.  Maybe I'll get a little green out of that effort.
The Portland Flower Show was fun.  Small compared to the Freyburg show, but it was still nice to smell dirt and plants and flowers, and see all kinds of exhibitions.  We took in a lecture about habitat for pollinators that was really well presented by the creator of First Light Wildlife Habitats.  I'm happy to say that my Pollinator Plus Strip is on target for its purpose.  After dividing and transplanting plants last fall, I'm eager to see what it produces this year.  One goal for that particular garden is to dig out the grasses.  I had planned to leave them, as they produce seed that insects, rodents, and birds find useful (thus the addition of the word plus to the name), but since I'd like to sell this place I believe potential buyers would find it too unkempt.  I may even go so far as to add bark mulch around the plants, but we'll see how well my body holds up to the initial job at hand.
I've successfully resisted any premature seed starting this year.  Tomorrow I will set up my little greenhouse and prepare some trays for more salad greens, tomatoes, and peppers.  We're expecting a cool, damp spring, so I'll wait one more week before starting anything to ensure the plants don't get too leggy if they have to be kept indoors longer than normal.  Everything else I think I'll sow directly in the ground; squash, pumpkin, cucumbers, radish, peas, and beans.  I also have a multitude of annual flower seeds I can direct sow in various places around the property once the soil is warmed up enough. 
Even with this dusting of snow and the below freezing temperatures at night, there are signs of spring all around.  In the mornings I'm greeted by a cacophony of bird noises, trees are beginning to show buds, and perennials are pushing up through the ground everywhere.  As soon as we get a little warmer weather and it dries out, I can begin peeling the winter leaf mulch off my beds.  The fever is beginning to set in!

daffodils emerging from under the snow

oriental poppy in a perennial bed

 Bizzy enjoying a warm spring day in the yard