new season

i suppose i should have expected weather in the eighties at the end of march and early in april...climate change...but no, mired in oldthink i was expecting some sort of transitional period between seasons...not a leap into the wastes of summer...my age betrays me...anyway i was on campus last monday to drop off some paperwork and as i hadn't taken a look at the garden in a couple of weeks i took a stroll over there...i was dismayed to find the elephant garlic defying the mulch...it had found some light and made the unmulching decision for me...so i spent a few hours there this morning...cleaning up..planting...weeding (already!!)...putting in bird tape...marking stakes...the usuual spring stuff...a couple of the garlic plants looked like they needed some sun, but they should be fine...the other two grew so tall trying to get past the mulch that i felt compelled to hill them because i feared the wind and the forecast rain might damage them...i also planted arugula, spinach, and winter savory ( it attracts bees...that's why it's there) the tomatoes are started and will be hardened off and planted later this month...no sign of the chinese yams i planted in the fall, but joe hollis tells me they emerge from dormancy late, so no panic yet...and i still have a bunch of bulbs if it becomes necessary...tomorrow i'm wiring up another fixture for a grow light and starting to work on teosinte...more compost and wheatgrass planting after the middle of this month...potatoes and asparagus as soon as the supppliers send them...the off season is officially over.

it's 12:30 and fed ex just brought my seed potatoes...so i will green them this coming week and plant them next weekend...more later


the top photo is the garden after being opened and planted.
the second is of the beds for onions, arugula, and spinach with the bird tape in place
the third is the beds after preperation for the arugula and spinach.
the fourth is th eelephant garlic after i hilledit.
the fifth is the garlic just after being unmulched.