Saturday, March 31, 2007

What An Awesome Spring!





perfect weather if you are a bee...


pea seedling and volunteer chard...


Barlett Pear...

Bear Butte

Vineyard...

Darker days early in the week, brrrrr...



I am loving the warm days and cool nights. We had a some rain Sunday, a pretty significant dusting (2"+) of snow and blustery north winds early in the week and rest of the days have been a reliable spring pattern. It has been not too warm, a certainly not too wet or cold, which can often be the case around here in the months of March, April and even into May! We will see what the remainder of spring will bring. The peas have mostly all germinated. I kept the bed covered with a small remay cold frame. This kept the birds away. Last year, there were many grandmother chard plants in the bed I am using, (chard is a bi-annual, it puts out seed in the second year) so, all their offspring think this will be a great home for them! The plum trees have all set lovely little, teeny, tiny, baby plums.I have not been able to take any good pictures of them yet, because they are all wearing their faded blossoms like little windbreakers. SO cute. If we don't get any more harsh weather, it may be a bumper year for plums. The last two seasons were a real flop, when (global warming?) the plums all bloomed really early and then endured two months of snow, rain, hail and sleet! Only the latest blooming European prune style plums did anything of note. I finally finished pruning most everything. The great old granny smith apple was finally completed today. Practically killed myself on the orchard ladder, maybe 8 ft isn't tall enough! I was teetering at times...The pears are in full bloom, and the apples are just starting to pop. According to folklore, apple blooming time is the time to plant your green beans. I'll get right on that....I HAVE planted my arbor day foundation freebie trees that had been babied in the garden for 2 years. They are some sort of deciduous redwood tree?? I do not know. They look like a redwood trees but drop their needles each winter. Yew trees maybe? So those, a redbud, a yellow blooming forsythia, a mess load of bearded iris', and more baby daffodils all found earth for their roots this week. I jammed in the last (I've said this before) two plum trees as well. More plum trees why? (I already have 9!) Oh right, one died, and I am trying to put in all the latest varieties in an effort to outsmart global warming! Private plum passion.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Global Warming is a Scam.

http://www.gorelied.notlong.com

Unknown said...

That's is a good one. Surely you jest! Have you not read the news lately?? Even the Sacramento River Valley is crying about the failed almond and plum crops. Temperatures that are too warm early in the year, trigger an early bloom and then the newly set fruit, or remaining blossoms, all getting hammered by harsh spring weather yet to come. No lie.

Anonymous said...

that deciduous redwood is a dwarf redwood from China! an interesting cousin of the local sempervirens and the giants of the sierra nevada.

Unknown said...

Thank you! I was hoping someone would help me out on that one.

Anonymous said...

The redwoods are commonly known as Dawn Redwoods. Maybe dwarf for a redwood, but not exactly dwarf for a tree!