Garden Friday

 Welcome to Garden Friday!

It's lookin' more like spring every day!

A check on the seeded lettuces tells me that it's time to transplant these

and sow some more.

Some of the kale will be ready to be potted up in another week.

 The straw bales are slow to germinate,

but the transplanted kale is doing well.

We haven't had much rain, 

so the soaker hoses have been cycled on daily.

We are hoping to be slammed with showers on Sunday.

 The potatoes are finally starting to peek through the straw

in the towers.

Once they get a bit bigger, we'll hill them up with more soil.

A couple of snap pea seedlings have popped up.

I'm thinking that I need to buy some new seed,

as this seed may no longer be too viable.

Sprouting some in a plastic bag sounds like a good idea about now.

 Three types of beets are being grown

and they have each started to burst through the soil.

We're growing Detroit Red, Detroit Golden and Chioggia varieties.

The Vates kale that sailed through the winter months

has finally gone to seed.

The delicate yellow flowers are similar to the ones I've seen on bolted broccoli. 

Just for kicks, I took a taste and it was still tasty.

We have seedlings going, so we can feel comfortable pulling this up.

Last week, we used this peat pot set to start our warmer weather seeds.

Cantaloupe, eggplant, peppers and tomatoes have all been grown before,

but it will be our first venture into watermelon.

I can feel the juice dripping down my chin already!

The germination rate was pretty good.

You can see the tomatoes (in the background) were ready to go!

What a thrill to see all these goodies coming up!

This week, C and I took the lid off of the compost bin in the side yard.

We found lots of little critters crawling around in it,

but it wasn't as composted as I'd hoped.

The fault is mine, as I wasn't very good about turning it.

It will remain where it is and slowly break down.

We moved the bin to another spot and will start over. 

I'm thinking of starting two or three piles inside of wire fencing in the fall, 

so it can more easily be turned. 

Thankfully, we have plenty of space out there.

This clay soil needs as much help as it can get,

and I will be working on amending every square inch of growing space.

 One of the discoveries we made while spreading the compost out

was one of our Halloween luminaries.

 This tree has been carted from Florida to the rental house to here.

It finally got planted out back.

We want more privacy and most of our wooded area is filled with

deciduous trees.  A few more of these evergreens should fill it in nicely.

 The birds are blessing us with their antics daily,

especially in the early morning hours, while I'm having my coffee.

This woodpecker visits the bird feeder but can't fit on the ledge,

so he acrobatically hangs by one claw and scarfs what he can reach.

This azalea bush is loaded with blossoms!

It must be loving the soil where it is,

so I dare not move it.

 There are multiple blooms on one stem, just gorgeous!

 It feels like spring now,

but I've been saying that for the last few weeks,

hoping the blast of winter would stay away.

I think we might be in the clear now,

at least I hope so.

There is so much to do in the garden

and now is the perfect time.

What's happening in your spring garden?