Waking Up the Garden

    Among the mounds of crunchy leaves, little plants are starting to wake up. Hyacinths popped up with a burst of beautiful color sharply contrasting their dull coverings; pink, blue, and white. The snow drops long lost their blossoms, but stand quite stately there in place. I spotted tiny buds forming on the tea roses- they will surprise me one morning, I'm sure of it. Easter lilies are green and hearty- maybe we will see a bloom this year (though we rarely get any).

     All matter of seedlings are peeking through the soil: cucumber, squash, beans and melons. They are finding their place next to the spring peas, carrots and lettuce we are harvesting daily. It's so nice to have fresh veggies again! During this bounty we preserve as much as we are able- dehydrating, freezing and canning.

 

        There are no berries quite yet save a strawberry or two. Blackberry canes are leafing out beautifully- I spotted several new ones pushing up straight and tall. Blueberry bushes are loaded with little berries, requiring quite a bit of watering to keep them healthy and strong. My afternoon garden stroll revealed plenty of green strawberries hidden among the leaves and pretty white flowers. Even our fruit trees are perking up! Asian pears, apples, peach and jujubes are loaded with bloom, while the figs, pomegranate, and goji berries are just leafing out. Citrus trees are nice and green- no sign of blossoms just yet.

         Sometimes the garden holds other secrets- it seems our guineas are nesting in the herbs and under a utility cart. I was quite surprised when one chased me through the nettles to keep her secret safe. A goofy hen seems to have left a few of her eggs in the guinea nest- mother guinea quickly scooted them out, leaving them in the nettles for me to take away. How funny, guess she wasn't interested in fostering.

            It seems we are all enjoying the waking up of the garden; hens and herd reap the blessing of intense weeding sessions while Doc stands guard- he favors the nettles to chickweed. Students in my program kneeled wide eyed and amazed to find tiny seedlings popping up where there had been only soil just last week. Budding fruit trees hosted ladybugs causing quite a bit of excitement when we watered school gardens today. Waking up is a magical thing- one I am blessed to experience and even more humbled to share.