Without fully retracting the "Spring Has Arrived" declaration of my previous post, I will say that the inclement weather made its case over the past couple of weeks. We tacked another 5" on the rain gauge, giving us a 45.5" season total to date. While the clouds have slowed things down a bit in the greenhouse, the on/off rain has given many perennials and our cover crop a nice boost. The roses are gargantuan right now, and are beginning to flower, as evidenced above by Gold Medal, Angel Face, and Distant Drums. Our kiwis are all leafing out, and the wisteria is in full bloom. Unfortunately, the rain has given the weeds quite a push too, and the broom is in full bloom already as well. There's lots more to pull and mow if we're going to avoid a big seed drop this year. We did take advantage of the longer stretches of sunny days to incorporate some of our cover crop, and even planted out Red Pontiac potatoes in a bed dug previously, where the cover crop had already broken down. Rainy day activities have included making posts for a new grape trellis, making more tomato cages, and expanding the number of nest boxes for our ducks. Hopefully the weather will stay calm, and we can get back out there for the rest of this week. It does look like we're in for quite a squall next Monday-Tuesday however. The North Pole appears decidedly unconvinced of global warming this Spring. Lastly, I trekked up to Grass Valley to help christen the new "Dinner Bell Farm" recently and made them an apropos gift. I also stopped at Shooting Star CSA on the way back down. It is ridiculously gorgeous. Congratulations again Matt and Lily, and North Bay folks, please do sign up for their CSA.
Monday, April 12, 2010
April Showers...
Without fully retracting the "Spring Has Arrived" declaration of my previous post, I will say that the inclement weather made its case over the past couple of weeks. We tacked another 5" on the rain gauge, giving us a 45.5" season total to date. While the clouds have slowed things down a bit in the greenhouse, the on/off rain has given many perennials and our cover crop a nice boost. The roses are gargantuan right now, and are beginning to flower, as evidenced above by Gold Medal, Angel Face, and Distant Drums. Our kiwis are all leafing out, and the wisteria is in full bloom. Unfortunately, the rain has given the weeds quite a push too, and the broom is in full bloom already as well. There's lots more to pull and mow if we're going to avoid a big seed drop this year. We did take advantage of the longer stretches of sunny days to incorporate some of our cover crop, and even planted out Red Pontiac potatoes in a bed dug previously, where the cover crop had already broken down. Rainy day activities have included making posts for a new grape trellis, making more tomato cages, and expanding the number of nest boxes for our ducks. Hopefully the weather will stay calm, and we can get back out there for the rest of this week. It does look like we're in for quite a squall next Monday-Tuesday however. The North Pole appears decidedly unconvinced of global warming this Spring. Lastly, I trekked up to Grass Valley to help christen the new "Dinner Bell Farm" recently and made them an apropos gift. I also stopped at Shooting Star CSA on the way back down. It is ridiculously gorgeous. Congratulations again Matt and Lily, and North Bay folks, please do sign up for their CSA.
