Sprouts

The carrots, spinach and broccoli seeds have all sprouted. I saw all these tiny green plants in the vicinities of where the seeds were planted, so all must be good so far. Now Steve just have to cordon off the beds to keep the boys and the dogs from trampling on the new seedlings.

Strawberries

Two days ago I noticed some new greenery popping out of the strawberries from beneath their winter straw covering. So I figured it was time to yank off all the straw and see what was beneath. The plants look great. A far cry from a year ago when there were so many weeds that you couldn't even see the strawberry plants. I had to spend two evenings weeding the whole bed and praying that I had a few plants left. Two years ago when Wes was a newborn and Liam wasn't even two yet, we had our hands so busy taking care of itty bitties that the garden and strawberries were a distant thought. So it was exciting last year to get rid of the weeds and let the strawberries re-propagate the bed. We were actually very surprised at how well the bed recovered. And, this is first time we've covered the strawberries for winter, so I wasn't certain what to expect. Now we just have to wait and see what kind of harvest we get this year. We know it won't be enough to satisfy the love our boys have for strawberries, and I know I'll be buying some or maybe a lot from Raab's, but it's fun to have some in our own yard.

Planted seed

Tonight, after dinner, I managed to escape from the family for a few minutes and get my cold crop seeds planted. The weather was absolutely miserable for planting, and it really wasn't an enjoyable experience. It felt like a chore I had to do. There was a nasty, cold wind blowing with drops of rain falling on me. My hands were absolutely frozen after the 15 mintes I spent getting the seeds in. The weather station said it was 47 degrees out, but my gosh it felt so much colder than that.