Dare I say it?

If I put away the snow shovels, will I jinx the weather? We had a couple of below freezing nights this past week, but the worst of it seems to be behind us now. The forsythia doesn't believe me, but the daffodils sure do.

Hopefully will become rabbit and woodchuck proof

My SO and I spent several hours outside Saturday, him working on the garden fence, me planting potatoes, potting up broccoli seedlings (note to self: don't plant the cool weather vegetable seedlings in the same flat as the warm weather ones) , and generally puttering around in the yard.

Adirondack Blue and Red seed potatoes

Items of note: some of the plants that wintered over in the garage are recovering, specifically the thyme and catnip; the hops rhizomes I planted in a big container have (surprisingly) sprouted; the redbud trees are budding. I even swapped out the flannel sheets on my bed for percale. Now *that* is a sure sign of spring!

You can't make me

I refuse to take another picture of snow. I. Just. Refuse.

The squirrel thanks us

At first, I was dumbfounded to see a squirrel in the bird feeder. Then I realized the new garden fence provided him a leg up. That's okay - bird feeding season is almost over.

Baby steps

The weather has been fairly temperate recently (except for the wind), so the garden is progressing appropriately. The onions are hanging in there, presumably putting down roots, as the tops look less than stellar. The garlic and rhubarb have made an appearance....

This past week, I planted peas, snap peas, spinach, lettuce, and radishes. And the daffodils are in bloom.

One problem with gardening in raised beds is perennials have a tougher time withstanding the winter weather since their roots are not deep within the earth proper. So far, I have not had a problem with garlic, which I mulch heavily. Last fall, I neglected to mulch the the asparagus and strawberries, both of which look not-so-good this spring.

I'm not happy with the strawberries anyway - the everbearing variety didn't everbear - so I am replacing them with a June-bearing variety. In all fairness, the strawberry bed probably did not receive enough sun, so it will also be relocated.

The asparagus may have bit the dust, as it is showing no signs of life. I'm not very experienced with asparagus; maybe it is too early? Regardless, I decided to plant more asparagus, a purple variety, which I did yesterday. I also gave the 25 new plants more elbow room room than I gave the previous 20 plants in the current bed. The new bed is also in a sunnier location.

In the never ending battles against rabbits and groundhogs, my SO is helping me build (and by "helping", he is doing most of the work) a garden fence. The idea is to run hardware cloth from the bottom to prevent digging and chicken wire from the top to prevent climbing. There will also be no posts set in the ground, so I can move the fence if need be. (I seem to change my mind a lot about the yard.)

Under the oh-ye-of-little-faith category, I am happy to report that all the indoor seedlings sprouted, with the exception of the 'Abe Lincoln' tomatoes, which I replanted yesterday.

I was planning to plant potatoes and transplant blueberries today, but "they" are predicting snow a few days from now. My gardening muscles are suffering a bit, but not as bad as I expected. Although the back of my neck felt like it was getting burned yesterday, it's not.

How does your garden grow?

Proof!

Last fall I claimed to have seen a partially albino robin. Some scoffed, but the little bugger (or his cousin) is back AND I was able to capture some (not very good) photos. I had to take these through (dirty) windows because this guy was very skittish. Have any of you seen anything like this?

Is that a worm I hear?

A little worried

Last weekend I started some seeds indoors: broccoli (late, I know), tomatoes, peppers. The broccoli seeds have sprouted, but no sign of life from the rest. These are the seeds that were delivered during the polar vortex. I hope the bitter temps they may have experienced in transit did not kill them. I'm going to put a little heat under them, to see if that helps.

I am also fretting about plant deliveries because, during a brain fart, I decided to be out of town in late April. Pinetree responded to my neurotic fretmail by shipping the rest of my order the next day. I didn't notice that, besides Irish potatoes, the order includes sweet potato slips; if the latter are hurt by the chilly temps as they travel, it will be my own damn fault. I also contacted Stark Bros. about the blueberry plants that were supposed to be shipped in March; they are on their way. That leaves only some ground cherry and pepper plants from Seed Savers to worry about.

Otherwise, I've been trying to achieve a little yard clean up. Not easy with cool temps and frigid wind and alternately pelting and misting rain. This weekend promises to be sunny, or so they say. Around here, you can never tell.

It's April and I may be a fool

The onion plants were making me nervous. When they arrived, the ground was still frozen. I gave them a drink and put them in the garage, where I figured they would become accustomed to the cold. But the past few days it has been not so cold. Despite their roots being exposed to the air, the onions were trying to grow. So this afternoon, I transferred them to the garden proper. It feels early, but now that I check my (poorly kept) records from last year, I see I am in the ball park: April 1 vs. April 6. Close enough.

Spring in Indiana

Woke up to snow this morning. Picked up onion plants at post office this afternoon. And so it goes.

Proof

The Meyer lemon is sporting some new growth post-repotting. Whew! Now if I can just keep it happy.

The end, I hope

Last week, Mother Nature teased us with some warmish weather before dumping another load of white, this time heavy, sticky snow. Pretty but still pretty annoying.

The vegetable garden

The bird feeders

The patio beds

The patio

View to the north

Frosted fencing

Sunshine by the end of the day

Most of this last batch is gone already, but today is frigid. There was a time when I thought it might be fun (ha-ha) to live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan or in Maine or even Canada. After this winter? No way.

Let's do stuff

Last weekend, my granddaughter said, "Let's do stuff, Grandma!" So we did some stuff that required the wearing of the striped overalls.

We watched a video on how to make seed starter pots from toilet paper rolls, then tried it ourselves. We used these pots to transplant the poppy seedlings we started on her last visit, plus plant a few more.

The coleus bits from the mother plant had sprouted roots, so we transplanted them as well, to yogurt containers.

And that is about all the gardening we could do, as snow was still upon the land.

Meyer lemon reboot

My Meyer lemon tree looks incredibly pathetic. Two summer ago, it was so hot and dry, I watered it daily and it flourished. Last summer was perfect weatherwise, and I think the poor thing received too much water from rain and from me, who continued to think it needed daily waterings. At least, that is my story and I am sticking to it.

Almost leafless, the little thing still provided me with four juicy lemons, the last of which I harvested a few weeks ago. Even though it is a bit early, last weekend I repotted the plant, in hopes of rejuvenating it.

I also pruned it rather severely, as I would prefer a bushy habit. When my granddaughter, who has been schooled to "be nice" to plants, saw it, she chastised me for "pulling off all the leaves."

Hopefully, new leaves and fragrant blossoms will emerge soon. Fingers crossed!

I can't wait

It is too early to start transplants from seed, even broccoli, but that does not mean I can't get prepared.

Last year I tried growing transplants in the garage, thinking the cooler temperatures out there would keep the plants from getting leggy. Instead, they pouted. So I moved the rack back inside. If I weren't planning some major renovations to the house, I would locate the rack elsewhere, but the West Wing will have to do for now. It is cool out there most of the time, unless there is afternoon sun.

Then I hacked up the coleus mother plant, to clone transplants for the flower box on the front porch. I did something similar last year, and it worked out well and saves me a few bucks at the greenhouse.

The snow has begun to melt. Last night we had weather alerts for wind, fog, flooding, AND thunderstorms. Fortunately, the rain was short lived. This morning the temperature is still above freezing, but that won't last. Can't put away the wool sweaters just yet.

Blue

Are you tired of my posting about the weather? Yeah, me, too. So let's talk gardening.

Today I ordered blueberry plants, LOTS of blueberry plants. Some for me, a couple for my daughter, even two for my son. And all different varieties, so somehow, someway, we are going to have blueberries. Some day.

A couple of years ago I spontaneously purchased a 'Patriot' blueberry plant. It never amounted to much as I first stuck it in a pot, then the garden, then I moved it a couple of times. But now that the south side of the house is destined to become a berry patch, I bought it a companion. Or five.

• 1 'Patriot'
• 2 'Darrow'
• 2 'Blueray'

I chose these three varieties because one bears in June, one in July, and one in August, so I expect to have blueberries all summer long. Another criterion was their fall foliage, since they will be visible from the street.

For my daughter, I selected:

• 1 'Earliblue'
• 1 'Bluecrop'

She said she wanted something early rather than late. One of these bears in June, the other in July, *and* they pollinate each other.

For my son, who lacks space for a garden, I chose a "patio assortment", two varieties that are small enough for growing in containers.

• 'Northcountry'
• 'Northblue'

Disappointed with my so-called "everbearing" strawberries, I also ordered 'Earliglo' June-bearing strawberry plants. Once they get established, the (n)everbearing will become compost.

I had plans to also start a mini orchard this year, but decided to wait until next. I want to better prepare the soil, plus better understand their care. Otherwise, I might as well plant $20 bills in the yard.

Second verse, same as the first

Oh, great, now THAT song is my newest ear worm.

Compare with previous photo of cat lawn ornament

Last Saturday I nearly cried while watching slush fall from the sky. I thought maybe winter was getting to me, but it was just the slush talking. I am okay with snow, even this much.

The long path to the bird feeders

Once again, my wonderful neighbor came to my rescue and blew the driveway. THANK GOD, because clearing the front walk almost did me in. There is nowhere to put the snow anymore. I tried throwing it over the existing mounds, failed in the execution, and watched the pitched snow tumble back to the sidewalk.

Like most boys, Finn likes to pee outside

I still had to clear the patio myself so that the dog could get beyond the step to do her bidness. That wasn't so bad, primarily due to the fact that snow does not stick to the backyard shovel like it does the front yard shovel.

From "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"

What? You don't have two shovels? I use a "back-saver" in the front because of the driveway, a regular shovel in the back. The latter is the one I used to carry in the car, along with clay kitty litter, but now I just stay home when the roads are crappy. The wonders of technology allow that, so nyah.

My toes are cold!

It is supposed to stay cold so maybe, just maybe, I will break out the cross country skis this weekend. (I probably just jinxed myself.)

Under the snow

I am so tired of seeing nothing but white when I look out the window. And today, just to add a special twist, Mother Nature is topping it off with some freezing rain. Glad I don't have anywhere to go.

While it looks like everything is frozen and still, secret activities occur below the surface of what we see. I would not have noticed or identified this hole in the snow as belonging to a mouse if I had not seen the critter venture out for a second before scurrying back to safety.

Come spring, evidence of rodent tunnels will snake across the dormant lawn until the grass greens up and grows.

White on white

Look what greeted me this morning:

And WeatherBug indicated the snowfall would continue for a while:

Even though the temps were in the single digits, the wind was too, so it was not too bad out. I shoveled the front walk and back patio. The Best Neighbor in the World happens to live across the street from me. He blew my driveway yesterday, even though there was not much there, and I expect he will do the same today. (In fact, there he is now!)

To add insult to injury, I feel like I am coming down with a cold. That would explain the little headache I have been nursing for the past few days, plus my general lack of energy.

The cold temps this past week did not delay shipment of garden seeds. I could not help but wonder whether that was such a good idea. If the seeds don't germinate, I will complain.

Speaking of complaining, Finn is *not* amused by the cold and snow, keeps crying for more catnip. I guess his solution is to remain as stoned as possible for the duration.

If I lived in another state, I might consider that a viable option, too.

Make it so

I ordered seeds and plants for the garden today. A few weeks ago, I spent a day going through seed catalogs and cross referencing selections with recommendations from Eating on the Wild Side. Consequently, the to-buy list contained quite a few new varieties. I let the list marinate for a while before committing. Even though there is snow on the ground and another polar vortex predicted this week, I placed my order.

Most items were ordered from Pinetree. They upgraded their web site, making it too fancy in places, but generally okay. Besides garden stuff, they also sell soap making supplies, so if I ever decide to put my pseudo-training in soap making to work, I have a source.

Next up was an order from Seed Savers Exchange. As some may recall, the order I placed with them last year ran into issues. This time placing the order turned into a hassle. Since I was ordering plants AND seeds, I had to create two orders, presumably because of different shipping methods available to each. Maybe because they are a non-profit, they feel compelled to do it this way, but seriously? It's a pain.

The Abraham Lincoln tomato seed I want is available only from R.H. Shumway, so I placed an order with them where the shipping was more than the shipped item cost. This year sounds like a good time to try saving my own tomato seeds.

The last item to order was purple podded pole beans. Gurneys had them listed in their catalog, but when I tried to find them online, they were nowhere to be found. So, even though I was trying to avoid Burpee this year, I ended up ordering the beans from them. And paying a shipping charge greater than the seeds cost. Again.

Ordinarily, instead of paying the exorbitant shipping rates, I would have fiddled around with my selections, but I am already overwhelmed with decision-making for home renovations. So I am standing pat with the original list of seeds and plants. I hope they are worth the extra expense.

This weather is for the birds

Very little open water on Tuesday

Birds not of a feather

More open water Wednesday

A murmuration of starlings

Is it spring yet?

Polar bear plunge sparrow style

Polar bear plunge starling style

Polar bear plunge blue jay style - NOT

Temperature is dropping

When I arose this morning, the temperature was -2. Now, several hours later, it is -8, but feels like -29 with the wind chill factored in. Tonight it is supposed to drop to -16. The office is closed today because this county is under a snow emergency. I don't work on Mondays, but I have already decided not to go in tomorrow - car might not start after a day in the parking lot. My SO is currently without a garage and his car won't start this morning. Time to just hunker down and bake pie.

My wonderful neighbor across the street has kept my driveway relatively clear, but I've had to work on the patio so the dog has some place to go. Not that she wants to go out at all. Even Finn seems resigned to staying inside. I may have to invest in a snow blower after all, just to clear pathways for her.

And to the bird feeders. I wore my tall boots when I went out to top them off this morning and the snow came up over the boot tops, all the way to my knees. I've never seen the heated birdbath not be able to keep up with the cold, either.

Time for pie.