it wasn't supposed to be maintenance...

but that is what it was...

it is a bit warmer today and it is supposed to rain, so i wandered out to the campus garden to have a look without much of any expectation of finding much...

and i did not find any sign of an asparagus spear...expectations met...

looking at my bed you wouldn't think much was happening there either...

a closer look disabused me of that illusion...the alfalfa is greening up...

grossly unprepared for this i did a hack job on the growth from last year with some scissors...

to let the light in...i stopped at the garden center on the way home and bought a new anvil pruner and will tidy this up next trip out...when i got home i had a look around the back yard...as i said it is warming ( finally )...

so i took the cover off the mooseberry bush...it may actually not have needed covering, however my experience of mooseberries is limited so i thought i would be safe...obviously the green has survived, either the cold or the covering...so i side dressed the bush with compost and returned the surrounding wire cage...we will watch for emerging leaves...

like all the other allium in the yard the ramps disregard the cold...they are fine and more are up...the season in that bed improves...

the winter rye is nothing if not robust...

however i suspect the winter wheat will be limited again this season...it really does need significant snow before february and that did not happen again this past winter...so...

i cleared some soil where wheat wasn't...

taking care to let the berry plants there be...

and broadcast in some einkorn wheat...we will see what happens...the season has started...slowly...it will accelerate soon enough.