April

by Sara Teasdale

The roofs are shining from the rain,
The sparrows twitter as they fly,
And with a windy April grace
The little clouds go by.
Yet the back yards are bare and brown
With only one unchanging tree-
I could not be so sure of Spring
Save that it sings in me.

Surprise Appearance!

The rain stopped long enough for me to take a wander out through my yard today. Luckily the ridiculously high winds have dried out much of the water that was laying about in puddles yesterday. In reflection, it would take about a week of high winds to evaporate all of the moisture that has accumulated around here.

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Last night on the news, Don said that this is the second rainy April on record. This followed by the highest snowfall record winter has made my backyard on a hill a swamp. I can only imagine how the people at the bottom of the hill will not get into their gardens until August!

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On my wanders today, I was delighted to see two unexpected sights. The first surprise came in the form of Brussel Sprouts. I didn't dig up the roots and stalks last year, but left them to see how long the leaves stayed green. (BTW - I had green leaves until the third week in January)

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Anyway, excitingly enough, the plants are reblooming from the bottom. I didn't know that this happened. Whether or not they actually push out those beautiful sprouts for me to eat (with Olive Oil, Salt & Pepper) remains to be seen. I will revisit this later.

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The top picture shows the stalk still present with the new growth around the bottom. Last fall I picked the nickel sized sprouts directly off the stalk rather than chop down the stalk and drag all that mess into my kitchen.

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How do I know that this would drag mess into my kitchen? Please reference the bottom picture where the stalk is gone but the base and roots remain. That was wonderful example of 'how not to pick Brussel Sprouts.' BTW - even though you may choose to pick your sprouts by the stalks and take them indoors AND it might even happen to be late November (maybe just before Thanksgiving) ... there will still be bugs. Lots of them! I may have been a bit panicked by the swarm of marauding bugs, but I could swear they had a French accent to their buzzing! Sacre-bleu!

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The other surprise today is onions. I didn't realize last fall that I neglected to harvest all of my onions. Apparently, several (many several) didn't get picked because they were hiding. Yes, I have a special variety of hiding onion called, 'hiding onions.' (Clever wasn't it?!?!) Mine are special! Anyway, look at this...

The soil looks terrible but it has been a terrible winter. Hopefully over the next week or two I will be able to get out there and begin tending to that soil. It looks like it needs a bunch of TLC.

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Until next time....

I wish for you quiet, dignity, and grace.

DR

Spring Song

by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Hark, I hear a robin calling!
List, the wind is from the south!
And the orchard-bloom is falling
Sweet as kisses on the mouth.

In the dreamy vale of beeches
Fair and faint is woven mist,
And the river's orient reaches
Are the palest amethyst.

Every limpid brook is singin
Of the lure of April days;
Every piney glen is ringing
With the maddest roundelays.

Come and let us seek together
Springtime lore of daffodils,
Giving to the golden weather
Greeting on the sun-warm hills.

New Year 2011

It can't come fast enough. I am so ready to get my hands dirty and grow things that I am wearing my plant catalogs ragged. The money that I have spent on gardening magazines and books in the last three months could feed a family of five for a month! Yikes!!

In the latest Mother Earth News magazine, I found a URL for their online garden planner. The program helps layout the garden, decide what is compatible, and what is the best plants for your "neck of the woods." I will be working on that next week during my vacation time between semesters. Once I've had the chance to experiment with it, I will report back here. And I will post my creation here too! Aren't ya excited?!?!

Until next time....
I wish for you quiet, dignity, and grace.
DR