Peas!!

The peas are up.  I haven't seen the sweet peas, though.  They are in the ground, as opposed to in a raised bed, and they don't get much sun where they are, next to the deck.

And someone has uprooted two of my new strawberry plants.  I stuck them back in, but I think they're toast.  I rounded up the usual suspects and narrowed it down to Mr. Squirrel.  No hard evidence, though.

Today we're off on our cruise.  I expect spring to be in full swing by the time we return on April 4.

Cherry Blossoms

We found some cherry trees in bloom on our way to our walk in the cemetery.  A hummingbird had found them, too.  If you look closely, you'll see him just northwest of center.

New Gloves

Last week I spent five dollars on a pair of gardening gloves -- the kind that are knit and then the palms are dipped in rubbery stuff.  They lasted three days before they started to come apart and allow dirt in.  They're great for precision work, like pulling small weeds, but they just don't hold up well.  Costco sells them in bulk, which I guess says a lot.

So I decided to get a decent pair of gloves.  I found a nice pair of leather gloves at Terra Gardens for twenty dollars.  I used them today and really like them.  However, if I need to do something intricate I'll have to go back to the cheapo ones.

Strawberries

This morning I went to Terra Gardens Nursery, hoping to get my seed potatoes.  I had been told they should have them by March 1.  They didn't.  But they did have strawberry plants, so I bought a bundle of twenty Seascapes.  After unbundling them, I gave them a haircut, then planted them about a foot apart in a double row down one raised bed.  The bed was first amended with a can of all-purpose fertilizer.

I also bought a rhubarb start to add to the one I already have.  This one is called Crimson Cherry and is bright red, unlike the one I already have, which is kind of greenish pink.  Both are planted in the front yard.  I loaded them up with steer manure.

I also added two 2-cubic foot bags of steer manure to the new asparagus bed. 

Morning Walk

On my walk this morning I found several new types of bulbs blooming.

First was the iris.  They were flat on the ground and much darker than the photo shows.

Next was a small yellow buttercup-type flower which I later identified as an Eranthis.

And just around the corner I found the first daffodils.

And They're Off!!

The very first vegetable crop has been sowed.  I put up a netting fence down the center of the bed with garlic and planted Cascadia snap peas next to it.  I sprinkled some inoculant in trench row before planting, then put wet seeds in and covered it all up.  The soil temperature is around 48 degrees, so they should be fine.  I also planted some sweet peas at the southeast corner of the deck.  I'm hoping they'll climb up the lattice panels we plan to put up there.

Yesterday on a walk I spotted my first snow drops.

And this morning at the bird store there was a red-flowering currant very close to blooming.  Mine is just starting to show buds.

Birds

After a winter of mostly juncos, we are now starting to see some new birds.  We've had a male Townsend's warbler off an on for about a month, but now he's coming more often and bringing a mate.  They have both been here a lot today, foraging on the ground as well as hitting the tube feeder and the suet.  And this afternoon we had a lesser goldfinch pair.