As expected, the third winter has arrived, bringing a dusting to the tops of all the mountains in the valley. Here in the base of the valley, we were graced with rain and a cooling of temperatures. However, spring will be back later this week, when we reach back up into the high teens and possibly event up to 20*C.

The good news is that the indoor plants are thriving, and the early risers of the outdoor plants have started to wake up.

Almost everything I planted inside to get started has come up. Only the chives and the ground cherries have not come up yet. The chives, being an onion, may take a little longer. It is a new packet of seeds, so I am still hopeful that they are just slow to start, though they are definitely taking longer than the leeks did to pop up.

The ground cherries seeds are a few years old now, so I hope that they will come up. If not, then I may plant a second round this week to see if I can get at least 2 plants going. I really fell in love with ground cherry jam and didn’t get enough last year to make a batch, so I would really like a successful year with them again this year. They are supposedly like a weed, however I have only had one successful year with them so far.

The peppers have only just started coming up, but look great! We are going with sweet, cayenne and jalapeno this year. I have some plans about where I might put them this year, where they won’t be crowded out and should have a good amount of sunshine & space. In a few weeks, I will transplant them into bigger pots to keep them growing into larger plants by the time they get outside.

The tomatoes are doing great. I have only had 2 that have not come up yet, but I will give it a few more days before I pop another seed into those pots. They are growing quick, as they tend to do, so they will also likely need transplanting in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I will start getting some airflow on them to get them to focus on a sturdy stalk.

The broccoli and cauliflower are already out of control. They are already quite leggy, despite having lots of regular sunlight and getting rotated daily. I will transplant them to bring their stems deeper into the soil and get a breeze on them so that they hopefully focus on strengthening the stem.

Despite regularly starting with leggy broccoli and cauliflower, by the time we put them out into the garden beds, they always seem to be strong and resistant to the elements out there.

The celery have just about all sprouted. I only plan on planting a couple of plants, but will give a few to my co-worker. The new seeds popped up much faster that I anticipated and are growing strong. I also think the soil mixture that I purchase from the nursery really helps. All the seeds start off so well in it.

The leeks are also stretching out and really coming along. I am looking forward to having them in the garden again this year. The potato leek soup has been a delicious, cold night, dinner a few times this winter. If I have enough, I also have a few other recipes that I will try out once they are ready. I may however, have to plant a few more seeds as only 3 have come up.

The basil is also doing fantastic! I planted it in clusters for a denser planting outside. I may have to transplant them into larger pots before moving them into the herb planter outside because they are growing so fast.

Taking a walk around the yard, it looks like a disaster. It usually does this time of year, but one day, in the not too distant future, it hopefully will look a little less like a disaster because the landscaping will be done! We are hoping to start with the leveling of the yard next weekend, and then start building our deck. The ground should be un-frozen soon enough to be able to dig our post supports in.

Earlier this month, I took a little peek beneath the straw to see if the garlic had popped up, and it had! March 10, the exact same day I took a peek last year and both photos show a similar development. Hopefully that is a good sign about what our harvest will look like. As of today, many greens have come up through the straw and are starting to push upward.

The rhubarb is poking its head out. The little red heads started on Feb 23, but are now really coming up and beginning to split to unfurl the first of the leaves. If we hit the temperatures that are expected this week, I am sure it will help them grow that much faster.

The strawberries aren’t yet showing too many signs of new growth, though I didn’t rummage around in the leaves too much. I am sure if I looked hard enough, I might see some new green growth, but I will leave it be for another week or two before really giving it a good peek.

The tarragon is really starting to sprout. I will have to cover it soon to keep the birds from snipping it like they did last spring. I noticed our magpie friends are back, so I may have to put some new flashers and whirlies out to keep them away. I am certain they were the culprit last year.

The oregano has some new green right down at the base. I may be transplanting it when it gets a little warmer. I think I would like to add some more dividers and split up the oregano and the thyme. The oregano started taking over the thyme last year, and I would like to avoid that this year. Thyme is one of my favourite herbs, so I want to make sure they have lots of space.

I don’t thing I will do lettuce in the planters again, so I will move the oregano and thyme over to the newest planter, and make more room for basil and rosemary in the original herb planter. I need to have more basil plants growing this year so that I have more dehydrated basil for the winter months.

My rosemary, unfortunately, did not make it through the winter in the house. I am not sure what happened, but despite regular waterings, it dried up and got woody. Had I realized sooner, I would have dehydrated more of the stalks and ground the rosemary down for cooking. Oh well, I will get some new plants this year.

A few more weeks and I will be able to start getting a few more seeds into the ground. The carrots, beets, onions, potatoes and radishes will all get planted in mid-April. I guess I better add turning the beds on my to-do list for the upcoming weekends!