I was so excited to be greeted by these blooming tulips, which opened for my day off yesterday. The day started off with a 7 am snow that made the world white again, but only for a very short time until the morning sun melted it away.

hyacinth?


irises

Mike loves these mini irises, and I love how early they bloom. Wouldn't they look magnificent in a big multi-purpled drift at the front of a bed?

ornamental perennial that looks like a beet

I was looking through the April issue of Southern Living last night and gleaning some gardening ideas. One of my favorites so far is using foliage to color the garden. I've tried using different kinds of foliage in the past, but I've been limited by my knowledge of the different plants' sizes, light preferences, etc. I'll be looking to learn more about these this year.

micro-Tom tomato
about to bloom!

lettuce

greenhouse
(aka, guest room)

This is where we're sleeping right now while we work on our bedroom, and it smells warm and soil-filled, just like any real greenhouse. Now let's just hope Mike gets that extra rental garden this summer, or else we're going to have a lot of little vegetables with nowhere to plant them!

Yay!

Happy Spring, everyone! It's finally official. Check out what's growing outside now:

tulips

tiny irises

crocuses

And also check out what's going on under the grow light...

lettuce


radishes, I think

beets

micro-tom tomato, already has buds!

The rest of the tomatoes and peppers have been planted and are currently under an incandescent lamp 24/7 to keep them warm. Many of them have now germinated. The peas are in the ground outside and are just starting to come up, and I'm going to start some flower seeds inside today. If you're thinking about starting some things inside, now would probably be a good time!

garlic (planted late last Fall)

I watched a robin hunting for worms in the garden this morning. It's refreshing to see nature come alive again, and my faith that summer exists is being restored.

The sap seems to have stopped flowing now, but check out the yield we had in the maple sap tally on the right! Mike doesn't really like the syrup, but I think it's good except for maybe a bit of an aftertaste. I actually just had some on my waffles this morning! I can't really remember what real maple syrup is supposed to taste like, so I'll have to get some to compare. All in all, I'd say it was a very successful maple syrup year!

I hope you can enjoy the warm days that are scattered among the colder ones. And don't get too discouraged by the cold, wet weather we have-- after all, March showers bring April flowers!!