Well that time of year is upon us. The living room looks like a jungle, the yard looks chaotic and despite it all, the sun is shining (most of the time) and spring is upon us.

We are hoping that this is the last year of chaos in the yard. To be fair, it gets less and less chaotic every year. Last year I was overwhelmed for about two months straight with a mad dash to finish the walls, get the proper soil in all the beds and get all the plants into the garden beds. This year, my over-eager self got started much too early, meaning that the living room is literally a jungle, and I am patiently waiting to get the garden going…which has lead to more over-eager planting.

So where are we at, and why haven’t I been writing more posts. Well, the last month has been a whirlwind. I teach an events class every winter on top of my regular job. This year, I ended up taking another class on part way through the semester because another instructor had to go on a medical leave. Which meant I was spending a lot of my time marking many, many papers. Add to the mix our first big trip since 2019, which was amazing and had lit the travel bug in us again. We went to New Orleans over easter and it was amazing. Then when we got back, it was jumping into the yard work. So I do apologize, I have been sorely neglecting writing.

The last few weeks we have been getting some stuff done in the yard….finally. First, let’s re-wind to the fall of 2023. We planted a beautiful bed of garlic in preparation of this year. I also planted some onions to see if I could get a head start on them similar to how garlic grows by planting it in the fall. Well, fast-forward back to this spring and both are doing great. Not all the onions came up, but most did and are looking good. It should give us some earlier onions in the season. If it works how I am hoping it will work, then we will regularly do a fall onion patch.

The garlic is doing great. Due to the trip, I forgot to take the straw off the garlic, which had me slightly worried that it wouldn’t get the space it needed to really sprout. When we got back we were pleasantly surprised to see most of it popping right out of the mulch. I had always thought it needed to be uncovered. This is so much better! I plan to leave the straw to help keep the weeds at bay, keep the moisture in, and hopefully result in some large cloves of garlic. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

In addition to the plants that were started in the fall, I got gung-ho and started a few other plants. Technically it is a few weeks earlier than I usually start them, but if I am following the seed packets, then I should be ok. This last weekend I got the beets, carrots and potatoes in. We also did a second planting of onions. And just like that half of our garden is now planted. To be fair, part of that half is also home to our rhubarb which is coming in nicely, and our strawberry bed, which is also mostly happy. We definitely lost a couple plants, but we will have runners in no time and will transplant those into the empty spaces.

Speaking of strawberries, the wild strawberry patch in our driveway is starting to come along nicely. I noticed this afternoon that there are flowers started, which means we should start seeing berries in the next week or so. I love our little volunteer patch of wild berries. It just keeps producing and trucking along.

The next month will see us starting to transplant some of our large starter plants out to the garden. The tomatoes are ridiculously large already, so it will be interesting what another month brings. Many of the other plants are also getting huge. The ground cherries are already twice the size they were last year when I planted them outside, so those should start producing a little earlier. The pak choi is really taking off. The cabbages are looking great, and hopefully this year when they go outside the ants leave them alone. I would really like to grow cabbage again. The broccoli and cauliflower are coming along, though the 4 that were started first may need to be transplanted before they go outside. The 4 that I planted about a month and a half after the first planting are happily growing in the greenhouse. The peppers are also really coming along, hopefully meaning we have a better year for our peppers.

The flowers that we planted are also looking fantastic. I do think I could have started the canna lilies earlier based on their current size, but that is ok. Lesson learned for next year. For now, I am very happy that we have enough to put out in the barrels in the back as well as the planters in the front. The Lupine and Delphinium are also looking good, however I have no idea what size they should be at this point, so who really knows. They are alive and growing so we will see how it goes!

I just finished adding an 8′ planter to the back patio area. We have the 6′ one in front of the hot tub, but realized that we need a bit more space. In the new planter, I plan to put some lettuce, the celery and a few herbs that we haven’t had for a few years like dill and cilantro. I figure if I put the lettuce and celery as well as some herbs in the beds, they are then right there for picking for dinner. I will likely be more inclined to use it on a regular basis if it is right beside the patio table.

Overall, this year feels a bit easier than last year in getting the gardens up and running. I think partly because the beds themselves just need to be turned, and then I can get planting. They are pretty much ready to go. I just can’t wait until we are eating from the garden. You just can’t beat the taste of the vegetables that you grew yourself. I swear it makes them taste better. Plus, with the cost of food what it is where we live, it will be nice to not pay $8 for a teeny tiny head of cauliflower.