May 2, 2018

More Signs Of Spring

There are many deer in our area. In the Spring they emerge from the cover of the forest to eat fresh,
green grass in the fields.


Spring comes slowly to the east coast in the Maritimes. But Summer and Fall fade equally as slowly on the other side, so it is a trade-off. None-the-less, the increasing signs of spring are an indication that seasonal changes are indeed taking place.

One of my favourite signs of Spring in our rural location is when the white-tail deer venture out of the protection of the forest to eat the new green grass of the field behind our home. 

At dawn on most days through April and May, there can be as many as 10 deer grazing peacefully. They stay there munching away in the morning mist until the sun cracks above the horizon, when they fade back into the forest once again. 

This gentle sight is something I love to wake up to this time of year. Add in Robins singing, and other migratory birds showing up, and it starts to look pretty promising. Soon we will not have to heat our home, and we can start to shed our winter wardrobe.



Garlic sprouting - a sure sign of spring. Let the gardening begin.

Another sure sign of the warming trend taking place is occurring in our garden. About a week ago I pulled the mulch back from two 4 ft. rows of garlic, and to my delight, there were several spiky shoots poking up. 

Now after a few double digit warm days, more are popping up, and greening up, every day.

We officially started our garden of 2018 waaay back on December 1, 2017, when I planted out about 25 pudgy purple cloves in our raised bed. The garlic I planted was from our crop last year. 

We haven't bought garlic grown on the other side of the planet for a long time, and that feels great. It really is one of the easiest things to grow, and it stores beautifully in our pantry.

We won't plant the rest of the garden for another week or two. Before then I will enhance our soil with compost, and get it ready for everything else we will grow this year. 

Last year was our earliest garden ever, having planted a week BEFORE May Long Weekend, the traditional Canadian planting time. It is possible that this year's garden may be even earlier, if things continue to progress as they have been. 

I am glad that the deer don't raid our garden. Neither do the ground hogs, which are out of their burrows now, sunning themselves and looking for mates. However, anything that hangs out of the raised bed, like our squash last year, will be enjoyed by the neighbourhood mice and voles.

Or they haven't raided us yet. We will see during another season of being grounded in this place, while growing our own food. 

I hope Spring (or Fall) in your area is progressing nicely for you. 





“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” 
- Margaret Atwood

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous5/03/2018

    We had a delightful spring, it lasted a couple of days and then went right into summer. I hope my little plants are handling the changes better that I.
    However my garlic is growing like a weed, I planted 24 bulbs and have about 20 up, which will be plenty for our needs. I have enough from last year to get me the summer.

    marieann

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  2. I've been wondering about your garlic and if it was up yet. Yes, spring does arrive late up there compared to here. We were fortunate to have a long cool spring. We are rapidly head long into summer weather now. Birds have fledged and everything is very green. Humidity has started to arrive along with heat. We've had some beautiful sunny days.

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