Such a beautiful day for the first day of spring!  70 degrees, calm winds.  Perfect garden weather!

So I had to peek under the row covers to see how the little seeds I planted before the last freezes are doing.   Clicking on a picture should make it larger – and possibly (depending on your computer) will bring up a slide show to make viewing easier.

Most of them, of course, are just breaking ground and only an inch or two in height.   But a few are quite far along.  Did you check out the little Brussels sprouts just forming in the axils of the leaves?  The sprouts, cabbages and kale were actually planted last fall and have weathered the winter nicely (under row cover during the coldest parts.)   The cold weather actually makes these brassica vegetables even more delicious!

I’ll be checking for any mildew or bug problems like aphids and flea beetles that are already active and pulling any weeds that are growing alongside the veggies.  I’ll sprinkle coffee grounds around greens – the little flea beetles don’t like coffee – or maybe they get too much of a caffeine buzz to bother eating the spinach.  Then I’ll cover them all back up.  Keeping covers on them protects not only from freezes, but also from emerging bugs and bird damage.  Last year, much of our cabbage was lost to crows who like those beautiful fresh cabbages as much as we do.    I’ll be checking back often to be sure there are no problems developing.

And you’re right.  I don’t think we’re really done with winter just yet.   But I’ve been pleasantly surprised before.  Like when I checked the blueberries:

Look closely and you’ll see  pink flowers edging out from the brown dead-looking buds on the blueberries.  I guess we’ll have a chance for some sweetness after all!   They’ll be tented with row cover before the next cold spell (next week…..)

In the meantime – I’m setting out my transplants of kohlrabi and kale today.   They’ll enjoy Saturday’s spring rain.

Hope to see you Saturday at the workshop at Athens Organic.  1:00 pm.   We’ll be hands-on with drip irrigation, row cover and pre-sprouting those hard-to-germinate seeds like spinach and beets.

Have a wonderful weekend!