03-31-13 Raining!

Raining! I feel bad for all who were looking forward to an Easter sunrise service. This morning, not too many people saw the sun rise!

On the good side: as a drought-averse gardener, I always appreciate free irrigation from above and, the rain is forcing me to stay in so that I can finally write the blog I intended to get to a couple of days ago.

The last two days have been glorious. Finally! I have taken advantage of the better temps for two things: weeding and transplanting.

I love those mini tulips but can't seem to be able to take a good picture of them. They look much btter than this!

Weeding: at this time of year, the garden is pretty much covered with weeds that overwintered, protecting the top soil and keeping it moist. Two things I appreciate, but now it is time to put them on the compost pile before they produce new seeds. To quote my neighbor David (Yes, the one with the peach tree!) if we could only produce vegetables with the vigor, resistance and persistence of weeds...

Transplanting: as most of you know, I start my Summer vegetables under a grow lamp in my wife's boudoir (The only room to have a wide enough sill.)
I took advantage of the two warmer days to move them to larger containers and new dirt to help them develop a god root system before transplanting them in the dirt at the end of April. The eggplants and peppers came out a little smaller than I'd like but they'll catch up. The others look very nice after two days in the new dirt. All this, of course, is kept under shelter since we expect more cold next week.

New crop under light: sweet corn and some of my favorite cucumbers.

What else to do at this time: dig up your garden, unless you have raised beds that don't require tilling.

New fiddle heads on the ferns.

This one's a bumble bee.

The girls are just as happy as I am to see the sun.