Spring cleanup!

Some people would call this free help (or slave labor! haha!) We prefer to say "character building." :-) Here Mikey and Greg, my garden cleanup crew, are getting ready to burn off the vines from the tomato cages. I don't want them burning up all the mulch left over from last year, so they are removing any big chunky debris to burn, and making a firebreak so the fire from the tomato cages doesn't cage on the mulch. That old decaying mulch is a big part of our fertilization plan--after it has done it's job as a weed barrier, we till it in the following spring to add organic matter to the soil. We've been doing this for about 6 years now, and the fertility shows in our gargantuan tomato plants and pepper "bushes."

I've already been able to plant a few rows of lettuce and peas in the garden. This is definitely the earliest that I've ever done any direct-seeding! I'm so excited to have our own greens and peas! YUM!

Time to plant OUTSIDE?!

It is so hard to believe that it is already the beginning of April. It's even harder to believe this amazingly warm weather we've been having! We had no snowfall in March, the snow drifts and piles are GONE, and the temps have been hovering in the 60's and 70's--we even hit 80 two days this week! So far I've uncovered the strawberries and checked out the buds on the raspberries. Both look like they survived the winter well. The rhubarb is also making a good showing. So far, I haven't seen any asparagus tips, but hopefully they will be popping up soon, too. (Although I noticed some gopher or mole damage in the new asparagus bed--I just hope they didn't bother the plants!)

The photo above is some of last fall's rainbow carrots. I'll be planting these again this year. They are fun to grow--so colorful and tasty! This weekend or early next week, I'm planning on seeding the first plantings of carrots, lettuces, spinach, and broccoli. With this early spring, is it possible we will be enjoying the bounty of the garden earlier than usual?! We can hope!!!