Signs, signs

It's amazing that the giant rhubarb leaves start out looking like this. If not for the wind and snow flurries, I'd love to be outside. Instead, I'm doing the seed starting project in the kitchen. Rhubarb needs some company in the garden.

Snowdrops are open in time to see more snow. Hopefully, it will be the last of the snow!

Finally, a day of spring!

After a disappointing Saturday, weather wise, a beautiful spring day popped up on Sunday. And this little pansy also caught my attention. It has popped up in one of the little succulent pots that sit on the fence in the garden. I cannot imagine how a pansy ended up in this spot!
So what did I do with some sun? Turned over the winter mulch in one of the beds and removed more rocks. Then planted carrots, beets and another planting of lettuce and chard. A few spots of marigolds also. The full green bed, above, has assorted perennial flowers. The columbine is almost blooming. The rhubarb is in the right end of the bed. I've finally joined the others of you who have been harvesting it. Made a rhubarb & berry crumble on Sunday night.
I wasn't going to plant the whole bed, but I did, figuring that I could use any nonsprouted parts for succession planning. You can see by the damp places above, that I planted a row down each side of the bed and a double row in the middle. I've tended to plant across the bed in the past, but that didn't work so well when I had to put in the soaker hoses last year.

As watering usually moves around the seeds and the soil, I made a little planting trench for each row, watered it, and placed the seeds. Then, I covered them with soil. It will rain before long and give it another dose. However, tonight, I noticed footprints through the nice, level bed. I'm sure that disturbed some seeds too.

Eventually, I'll place a soaker hose in the bed down the alley on one side of the double rows and back on the other side of the double rows. If anything sprouts, that is.

Snap Peas Blues

Do your peas hide well?
Do they puff up in their shell?
Do they grow to be great big?
Can you ring them like a bell?
Can you search for ‘em every day
Yet find gigantic ones this way?
Do your peas hide well?

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Spent the morning blanching and freezing young peas and broccoli. I also picked every last giant pea pod that has been hiding out, in hopes of continuing the harvest of new peas a little longer. Some of the vines are starting to show signs of the warming summer, but others are still flowering.

Next came more beet harvest. Cooked & pickled some for the week. Added the young greens to the salad and prepared the medium sized greens for cooking tomorrow night. The largest and slightly yellowing leaves went to the compost.

Finally, rhubarb! I was starting to have second thoughts about it. How could I tell if it was ready? I understand it doesn't all turn red as a signal. Would it need so much sweetening that it wasn't worth messing with? Would it be too tough? But, I already had strawberries so next came the strawberry rhubarb cobbler. Not bad at all! I'll be having some more here soon.

It actually reminds me of the tart cherry sauce I was hooked on last year. See the post about it here. Since there are only a few cherries this year, I wonder how rhubarb might substitute? (I have more cherry liqueur from Germany now too!)

So now my question is ...how long can I keep harvesting it?

Emerging Rhubarb

A friend gave me starts of rhubarb last year. This one is sprouting already while the others remain tucked in. We will see if the early riser is the wiser in the March garden.