A while back I announced that we were caught up with our garden preparation and were sort of just inventing things to do while we waited for the spring to continue. First I was tempted to begin seeding, but when I thought about how things were going, I cut back on planting seeds to wait and see how the trend was going. It doesn’t seem wise to be strong- headed and continue as if the weather isn’t a factor. No, It called for reassessment and calculation. It looks like the toms can now go into the greenhouse the third week of may and the things that I did plant back then were cold-weather crops, so they are coming along, albeit in a retarded fashion. I could go on about how Mother Nature is playing with us and our gardening and my reactions to it, but that may be a bit boring to you. Instead, I will show you a comparison foto(s). Notice the dates: It is the same tree in the same location on the same date...this year and last. It tells the tale of where we are at in the season here. I wonder how the season is going where you folks live. Addendum: I just want to say that my Bride and I were talking about some gardening strategies and she looked around and came up with these pics. I can thank my Bride for this posting.
Everything here is behind this year too Sjoerd. Our trees are just now beginning to burst into leaf. The daffodils are still in flower - usually they are long gone by this time of year. Even the birds in the garden are slower and have only been gathering nesting materials over the last few days.
We've had snow 2 nights in a row. That isn't all that unusual for us this time of year, except we had 2 weeks of temperatures in the teens which got all our plants growing just in time for the cold snap. I hope our fruit trees aren't affected.
The rhubarb is late this year for the first time but now it's dry and that's affecting them as well now.
Our vegetable gardens are about a month behind. I picked our first lettuces today, and we are usually eating fresh lettuce salads in March. Our apple and pear trees are in blossom, and we are hoping that they will catch up and be on schedule. I still have herb starts on the barn shelf since I'm worried about them getting too cold if put out. Why is Mother Nature doing this to us? Is it because 2020 became 2021 and learned to drink?
Eileen—it sounds like your season is a mirror image of ours here. I am not a fan of reactive gardening, but there is little choice with this irregular season Mother Nature is offering us this year. I am snow sorry to hear about your weather there Netty.. our fruit trees have been spared so far, in fact some are producing blooms like there will be no tomorrow. Uh-oh Loggie. Is only the rhubarb being effected by the weather over there so far? Jane—you have it worse than I. I do not know what Mother Nature is playing at this year, but over here She is being a real mother that’s for sure. Cayu—sorry to hear that things there are slow as well. It is good to read your and the others’ comments because it gives me a feel for the conditions and how wide spread they are. Knowing that this persistent coolness is international helps me to plan. Lets hope the weather trend will change for the better...and soooooon, please.
