I love how quickly we go from snow and cold to green and somewhat warmer. The spring days break the grumpy, cynical nature of the northmen and everyone is just in a good mood. We've had some much needed rain, and a few days of unseasonably hot weather, both of which have begun to wake the gardens from their winter slumber.
In the pasture, the area that had burned is less of a horror show and more of a quickly fading scar.
The cottage garden plants are forcing their way through the thick layer of soil I dumped on them last autumn.
In the hot beds at the barn, the yellow crocus I planted are in bloom. I love them, and hope they spread like mad.
In the hillside garden, the garlic is chugging away, and the hellebore is in bloom. She really needs to go into the forest garden. I've decided that I probably won't be able to get to the entire forest garden this year, but I will try to get at least one small section done. Hopefully a few of my shade plants will have a new home by the end of summer.
The Katharine Hodgkin dwarf iris have bloomed. This is a variety I have wanted for many years, and finally found online. I also purchased some dwarf iris 'Louise', but I haven't seen it emerge yet. I'm honestly not sure where I planted it. Both of these will eventually be moved into the alpine garden when that's ready.
The white forsythia I planted a few years ago as bare root stock has about five flowers this year. I can't wait until it's a fully grown, bushy shrub covered in these delicate white blooms.
In the back yard I've been working to get the cement block borders in place around the bank I mulched last year. I can't believe how much grass has pushed through the cardboard and bark mulch already! I'll have to mulch again this spring, after pulling the grass.
And finally, an update on my winter sowing experiment. I have germination! Not in every jug, but I'm happy with what's going on so far. The teasel, flax, valerian, ammi majus, and most excitedly, the white penstemon seed gathered from my own plant have all germinated. So far the verbena bonariensis and great burnet are not cooperating, but the pimpinella has about three tiny seedling, so maybe these just need a little more time or some warmer weather. I'm pretty stoked with the results.
Not-so-pro-tip - when you tape the containers together, don't use Gorilla tape. That stuff just does not want to peel off! I may have to cut some jugs open.
For the next week we're returning to more typical spring weather. Rainy, raw, and temperatures overnight below freezing. The winter sown seedlings will come into the garage for protection to be on the safe side. I'd hate to lose them at this point. I've started clearing the sumac behind the bitch barn so I can get the rest of the snow fence put up, and hopefully get the hillside garden secured. The doe and her twins survived the winter and they've already been walking through the cottage and hillside gardens. I'm not losing veg to these marauders this year if I can help it.
I have pasture edges to cut, rocks and soil to move to the alpine garden, mule fence to get done, cat fence to erect, a squash mound to prepare, and hundreds of seedlings to pot on until it's safe for them to go out. Sometimes there's so much to do, it feels incredibly daunting. I keep saying to myself "Just get this project done, and next year you'll have more time to enjoy yourself" but it seems the big projects just drag on and never get completed. I sometimes find myself frustrated because I'm physically and financially hindered, but then I think about the alternative. I could be living in an apartment, without the means to have my mules, my gardens, and all these things that keep me so busy. I really am a lucky gal.
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