Here comes the Sun, and I say...

 

Springen est sprungen

Back in the Old Country(tm), Mother Nature would throw out a handful of teaser days of glorious weather, mid-February, to keep us from slitting our wrists in despair of ever seeing the Sun again. Today is one of those types of days. Everything just seems fresh and new and alive and hopeful. Even Farmer Goth smiled as he stood in a sunbeam to charge (he's solar-powered).

New plans for the Back 40 are being hatched along with this tip-toeing into Spring, and as mentioned in previous instalments, the 2021 trends have been decided:

OUT: that goddamned ivy tree

IN: a shiny new fence

For the sake of discussion, let's just take a look at what a difference it's made in the visual profile:

While it means that Shelob will have to find a new place to live, next Autumn, it does mean that we'll get more sunshine in places where we want it, for longer. This is very pleasing.

Now that we've got that bit sorted, it's time to kick things into gear. I made a Very Grownup Garden Purchase of a potting bench that should arrive in a couple of weeks, about which I am rather excited. No more using our garden table or hunching over do try and do things on the ground. 

I expect that I'll finally make a list of the seeds we have, and set up some sort of schedule. In the mean time, here is a short list of Things That Didn't Die:

Lamb's Ear lettuce and Swiss Chard

I'm exceptionally pleased by this - the snow we had last week looked like it had just wrecked these, and I was so looking forward to something that wasn't a brassica. Looks like I'll get that salad after all!

Moroccan Mint

I, honest to God, thought I'd cut this back too far and killed it dead. But mint seems to be one of those things that will survive the End Times, along with cockroaches, investment bankers, and Deloitte.

Parsley and Salad Burnet

More things from the Greens That Aren't Brassicas list. Salad Burnet, by the way, was the sleeper hit of the random growbar experiment. It's super tasty, and I think will be nice to nibble on as we get into Spring.

Fennel (herb, not bulb)

You can barely see it, but there's a tiny green bottle brush of a sprout happening, there, and I couldn't be more pleased by this.

Lady's Bedstraw

Ostensibly, this is supposed to be a dye plant, or used to stuff into mattresses and pillows, but it's just so fucking cool-looking that I keep it around for the joy of it. Also, the flowers smell lovely.

Lemon Balm

We've got some of this under our bedroom window, too. Smells good and repels insects, or so they say.

Acer Maple

I really, really hope this little guy comes into his own, now. He wasn't super happy, last year, and the fence guys seem to have busted off one or two branches, but the buds are promising. We just need to figure out a way to keep the local Chupacabrae from pooping in his dirt, and determine a good watering rotation. Never did get the hang of it, last year, so I hope we can do better by him.

Impatient <--- it me