This is not how we usually think of Forsythia;  it's a little twiggy.  But it is early spring and it is just starting to show color.  I thought you might like to see it in its transition mode.  This is so exciting for me.

 

Of course it is just showing color at the top, because the deer have browsed the bottom branches.  But in the next couple weeks we will be seeing Forsythia all over town.  I hope you love it as much as I do.  My harbinger of spring.

 

HAPPY ALMOST SPRING!!!

 

We walked in the park on Saturday, and saw more folks than we've seen in a while.  It was such a pretty spring day.  

 

I just had to take this picture of the Red Maple in the parking lot.  I love how the flowers start to look fuzzy red;  and looking up into the blue sky just makes me happy.  Spring is almost here!!!

 

 

HAPPY ALMOST SPRING!!!

 

 

 

 

Yep, Daylight Saving Time happened today.  I hope you didn't miss anything. 

 

We enjoyed the extra hour sleep.  Oh, wait, we got an hour less sleep.  It's all the same to us.  We get up when we're ready, and go to bed when we're done.  Isn't retirement a wonderful thing?  

 

HAPPY ALMOST SPRING!!!

 

Yep!!  You know it's almost spring when the daffodils start blooming.  I can't help it;  I have to cut them and bring them inside.  

 

They make me happy.

 

HAPPY MARCH!!!

 

I love looking up this time of year, and seeing the Bradford Pears getting ready for their spring display.  The flower buds are swelling, and they should begin blooming in a couple weeks.  

 

This is just one of the trees on our daily walk.  The neighborhood is full of them.  I will show you again when they start blooming.  That is really pretty.  

 

HAPPY ALMOST SPRING!!!

 

This is our 2025 garden.  Well, the start of it anyway.  

 

We sowed lots of tomato seeds, kale, chard, cabbage and lettuce seeds.  We also sowed peppers and eggplants.  There are five flats (each with ten rows of seeds) all on the heat mats now.  The greens will germinate first, then the tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants.  

 

As they grow and sprout true leaves they will get up potted into 6-packs, and put under the grow lights.  If you like, I will show you as we go along.  It is a great process, and I think we have a pretty good system now.  

 

Then in April we will start planting everything into the garden.  Right now, all that's out there are the leeks and garlic, and a few kales that survived the winter.  I sowed dill and cilantro in place in the garden, as they don't like being transplanted.  They will start emerging in the next month.  

 

Then, after the full moon, we will plant our root crops:  carrots, radishes, beets, and potatoes.

 

It doesn't look like much now, but trust me, this is the beginning of a wonderful new year in the garden.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I started with the arugula bed.  It was filled with chickweed all winter.  Well, I filled the wheelbarrow with all that chickweed, and hopefully got it all out.  Then I fluffed up the soil, added some eggshells and arugula seeds.  I covered it all with straw and watered it in.  We will see how long it takes to germinate.  It depends on the temperature of the soil, but it has been kinda warm lately.  So we may be looking at sprouts soon.  

 

I love this time of year.

 

HAPPY MARCH!!!

 

 

Last week we went out to The Basket Barn to get good soil for seed starting, and I took a couple pix inside the greenhouse.  

 

This is what it looks like in winter, just a little bit of color.  They are gearing up for spring.  Pots planted with petunias, begonias, geraniums, and lots of other pretties.  I will take another picture around Mother's Day;  that is a sight to behold.  

 

But for a cold day in winter, being inside a greenhouse is one of my favorite things.  

 

HAPPY FEBRUARY!!!

 

I know you know Crape Myrtles.  In the summer they bloom white and pink and red, and are beautiful.  And in the winter we get to enjoy their gorgeous smooth trunks.  But, there is this odd practice of drastic pruning in the winter;  we call it Crape Murder.

 

I get it...the point is to bring the blooms down to eye level, but this looks totally bizarre to me.  When summer comes, we will forget all about this, and enjoy their blooms and fragrance, but for now, it just looks like murder.

 

 

HAPPY FEBRUARY!!!

 

Look at our mushroom logs!!!  They are sprouting shiitake mushrooms.  Yay!!!

 

We plugged these three logs in November of 2020, and each year they have given us a few mushrooms, but this is the biggest fruiting yet!!!  Judging by the size of these logs, they should continue fruiting for a couple more years.  

 

I am seriously thinking about plugging the stump left from our big maple tree.  Maple isn't the BEST wood to grow shiitakes, but it is acceptable.  And this is so exciting!!!

 

 

HAPPY FEBRUARY!!!