Spring Equinox has Arrived!

 The seasons are turning with the Spring Equinox today, and everywhere you look, there is no question we are headed out of winter. The sun is shining more often, you can hear the sound of birds chirping in the morning, hummingbirds are having a party in the quince bush, and plants are busy growing. It’s a flurry for sure!

We took advantage of the warm, sunny weekend and turned our attention to the garden.

For once, I managed to get potatoes and peas planted around St.
Patrick’s Day. I have missed this date many years in a row, but things
aligned this weekend and it stopped raining long enough for us to get it
done. We even spruced up our garden paths with some new cardboard and
straw mulch. If I haven’t sung praises to mulching enough, our beds were
so much easier to work with this year after sitting under a leaf mulch
all winter. Building good soil is a slow but sure process, and the
payoffs are great.

Our kale overwintered beautifully and is putting up robust, dark green leaves every day.

 

The garlic is coming along nicely, and we are looking forward to a good harvest this summer. We have some strawberry and asparagus starts waiting in the garage to put into our new raised beds, along with artichokes and rhubarb if we find time to build more.

We have enjoyed taking care of the old fruit trees and planting a few new ones. Currently we have two mature Asian pears, an Italian plum, five apples (plus some funky old cider trees down along the driveway), three cherry trees (Stella, Royal Ann, and one unknown), and one pear tree. 

And Spring Equinox wouldn’t be complete without a little basket for the kids from the fairies with a traditional Lillie Bunny from a nearby bean-to-bar chocolate maker (and all around character) Jeff at Lillie Belle Farms. 

Spring will always be a welcome guest on our homestead!