Pine needles

I got my first bales of pine needles for mulch this morning. Our high school PTSA sells them for the spring fundraiser. They even deliver them. What's not to like?

I didn't grow up in the land of the long leaf pine, so I've always used shredded hardwood mulch. Since my front yard has three blueberry bushes and four azaleas, I decided I needed the more acid pine needles this year.

Things I learned:

• I love pine needles!  They smell good and they remind me of coastal piney woods. 
• They are so much easier than bark mulch to spread over large areas.  The bales are light, and I can spread by hand. I don't need a wheelbarrow, or pitchfork, or rake.  Yay!
• They're not as easy as bark mulch in areas where there are a lot of plants close together. It's difficult to get small amounts of the needles into small spaces. 
• I need to buy at least twice as many bales next year as I did this year.  

By the way, my college mentor, who grew up in eastern Virginia, called them pine tags. I don't think I've ever heard anyone else use that term, have you?

Better and better

Every day, something new is blooming in the yard! This is my very favorite time of year. When I got home from work today, I spotted these snow crocuses out in the front yard, so I grabbed the camera to see what I could get.

I got a new Panasonic G1 camera this winter. I've been working on learning how to use it to take decent photos. My husband is, literally, a pro, so I'm getting some great coaching, plus technical assistance in processing the files. I'm really happy with this one.

Daffodils!

First of the season, blooming in my front yard this morning!

And so it begins

Yesterday, I planted my first spring seeds in the vegetable garden. I planted peas and two varieties of sugar snaps. Even though we often don't get enough for more than one meal of each, there's something irresistible about peas fresh out of the garden. The birds and chipmunks think so, too, so I covered the plot with mesh. I hope that'll give the seeds a chance to sprout.

My garden experiment this year is potatoes. I've wanted to plant potatoes for the last few years, but I wasn't sure how to get started. We were in Lowe's this weekend and found a whole display of seed potatoes, so I took the plunge. I bought packages of Yukon Gold and Red Norland.  Each package had ten little potatoes in it. I followed the directions on the package, watered everything, and made sure they were under the mesh, too.

Next up:  spinach. I haven't had much luck with spinach lately. I've had very poor germination, even with fresh seed. This time, I'm going to try soaking the seeds ahead of time, like I do with peas and beans. We'll see if that helps.

I don't care what the calendar says...

..it's most definitely spring out there! It's been warm and sunny for the last week, so things are starting to sprout, including these snow crocuses in the front yard. Also spotted:  lots of daffodils, hyacinth, columbine, and daylilies. The buds are swelling on the forsythia, so I'm looking forward to that blooming before the end of the month.

The garlic is also sprouting. I wasn't sure it would work this time. I planted a few heads from last year's harvest.  So far, so good.

It's been warm, but it's also been dry. We're way below our normal precipitation so far this year. The garden soil is very dry and crumbly, rather than soaking wet and sticky like it usually is this time of year. That's not a good sign. It's also been windy--there have been several wildfires in the mountains nearby, which is very unusual for February.

I'm sure that we're not done with cold weather yet. I just hope that we get some rain, not more snow, in the coming weeks.

Hellebore

By the way, this is what hellebore looks like.  The flowers aren't quite open.  When they do open, there are five petals.  Some of the plants have these pinkish flowers.  Others are white.

Signs of Spring

This weekend I finally found the first signs of spring in the yard.  The snowdrops are starting to bloom, as are the hellebores.  The daffodils are sprouting all over the yard, too.

On the other hand, it's supposed to be twenty degrees tonight with snow flurries.

Small steps.  Spring really is coming.