Springing Forward, Slowly

Spring is slowly arriving here in our neck of the woods. There are a few signs around, some subtle and some pretty obvious. For instance, I almost overlooked the little snowdrops blooming out in the yard. Some previous resident must have planted them, and they have so far survived mowing and foot traffic in their present location.

tiny snowdrops blooming (click on any image to enlarge)

There are a few tulip leaves shooting up in a bed out by the driveway. As soon as they came up, they were nipped back by the resident deer herd. They’ll eat the tulip flower buds as soon as they come up too, so there’s no reason to expect to see tulips unless we start spraying repellent. These days I rarely say the word ‘deer’ without adding a flavorful adjective to go along with it. I would be happy to share our deer with anyone who would like some wildlife in their backyard. Anyone interested? I’ll even arrange shipping!

tulips are deer candy

On a happier note, the hard working ‘ladies’ of Happy Acres have been taking advantage of warmer weather to do a little foraging. Right now there’s not a lot of pollen or nectar sources, but they managed to find some blooming Asian greens and arugula in the greenhouse. I need to pull both of them and replant the beds, but I don’t have the heart to do it right now. How would you like if you were cooped up all winter, and as soon as you could get out and find something to eat, it was snatched right out of your mouth? If you look closely in the below photo, you can see the yellow pollen stored in the basket on her rear leg.

honeybee collecting pollen from flowering brassica

I also took advantage of recent warm weather to work outside, and inside the greenhouse. I planted a couple of mini salad boxes this weekend, one with lettuce and one with arugula (to replace the overwintered plants that are flowering). I have more salad green seedlings that need to find a home soon in the greenhouse and cold frame beds.

mini salad boxes with lettuce(L) and arugula(R)

There’s no sign of asparagus coming up yet. Last year it surprised us by coming up about 3 weeks earlier than usual. I don’t think that will happen again this year, but anything is possible. And last year the bluebirds had finished building their first nest by March 12th, with eggs laid about a week later. This year they are hanging around the nest box already, which is a good sign. And there’s a few ceremonial sprigs of grass in the bottom. Only time will tell when they decide that it’s time to lay those eggs.

the beginnings of a bluebird nest

So it looks like spring is coming along, slowly but surely. Which is not a bad thing at all. I am in no rush for summer, or for time to pass any faster than it is already!