Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Spring, Spring, Spring!

These are the pictures I was complaining about losing the other day. They were taken on one of the first nice days of the year. Can't you smell the pollen and feel the sunshine and dew on your bare feet?

Heather's pansies waiting to be planted. She's the "flower pot" girl in the family, while I take care of the stuff in beds. These beauties are now in pots outside our front door - all except one of the boxes, which went to a family at our church.
Don't you like the brick background in this picture?


I was walking from the garden toward the house, ready to go inside, when I happened to look up.
I just had to run inside for the camera, and that's when I took all these pictures. This was what made me want to; just look at that blue! Can you imagine if you were standing at the base of this almond tree, as I was, a faint breeze kissing your cheeks, pink and white petals littering the ground around your feet, sun pouring down on your lifted face, and this blue, blue, blue sea of blue creating a gigantic dome over your head. The vastness and the deepness of the sky simply blew me away.


Here are my "babies." First lettuce of the season. They are planted in a tub - NOT a pot. :) - in our green house. They have almost doubled in size since this picture was taken.

Oh yes, our greenhouse!!!!! Here it is, completed except for trimming off the extra plastic hanging down on the sides. (But you can ignore that, right?) It is so nice and warm in there on brisk mornings. Behind the greenhouse, you can see the layout of our garden this year.

We are so happy to have all the beds built. Dad has been making a few beds each year for three years, and they are finally all done. Now we can set up a rotation system. We are really looking forward to this gardening season!



Here is the garden from the opposite side (The edge of the greenhouse is at the far left of the picture - or, it would be, if the picture were over a few inches.) Our compost bin is against the shed on the right in the foreground.

I've written the names of the crops we'll be planting in each bed directly on the picture, but you'll probably have to click on it and enlarge it to be able to read the words. So far, we just have potatoes, broccoli, beets, carrots, spinach, and strawberries in the ground - and we've put peas in all the other beds, to fertilize the ground until the weather warms up. Maybe we'll get a pea harvest too!

Has spring moved into any of y'all's areas yet? Any gardening going on?

6 comments:

Kristen Michelle said...

"They are planted in a tub - NOT a pot."

Haha. This made me laugh. =D

Leah said...

Hello Amber, I have been reading (and enjoying!) your posts, just have not found the time to comment. Things are still pretty busy here, it seems as though the pace is slowing down in one sense, but picking up in a different direction.
I finally planted my tomato and pepper seeds in seed flats and they just started popping up today, so now I need to put them under the grow lights. Yeah!

It looks beautiful there, so nice to see green and blooms! Up here it has been snowing all day! :)

Amber said...

Glad to give you a laugh, Alethea. :)

Leah: Wow, snow all day! I can't imagine that in March. I'm sure you're glad to see your tomatoes and peppers rear their heads. :)

Amanda said...

Spring is starting to show up around here, and I LOVE it! We have potatoes, onions, and lettuce planted in the garden so far. Outside of the garden, I'm REALLY enjoying the violets!! I don't know what it is about them - they're just so beautiful! I think God must have made them just for me. :)
Oh, I'm also planning to start an herb garden this year. Are you into that kind of stuff?

Amber said...

Hi, Amanda! Good to hear from you. I love violets, too. :) And yes, I am "into" herbs. This year is my second year growing them, and Dad has given me half a bed to do whatever I like in. Any suggestions as to which herbs are most useful in the kitchen?

hannah said...

Interesting to see your raised bed garden!

Yesterday I finally got my beds ready and a few things planted: lettuce, arugula, carrots, green onions, and sugar snap peas. It was such a beautiful day for working outside here.