Last weekend was pretty warm - T shirt and shorts weather for the first time this year - but since then it's been cool again, with thunderstorms or at least showers almost every evening. The vegetation loves it, but Ruay cat is less impressed. It does give me an excuse to do more writing and less yard work!
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We've had rain here, and then more rain - a heavy thunderstorm Monday which gave me 2 inches, and a gentler storm last night for about another inch. I've planted eight market tomato plants, one cucumber, two zucchinis, and two basils. I also direct seeded my beans, and a couple are starting to come up. This mild, wet weather has been good for everything except the beans, which need to be a little warmer, but we'll get that soon enough. After last year's near-drought, this is welcome weather.
We had a mid-30s low Monday night, but no frost. Things are warming up nicely now, and I've planted several types of tomatoes, two zucchinis, and a cucumber -- all plants I bought at the farmers markets. I didn't try and start anything indoors this year - no room under the garage lights and no safe cat-proof place in the house. However I've ordered a couple of kinds of heirloom tomato seeds which I'm not likely to find locally, so might have a go with them even though it's late. Everything has leafed out now, although I lost one rosebush to the hard winter and three more effectively came back from their roots. Oh, and I'm planting bean seeds -- I missed having them last year, and I'll bet the humming birds missed the scarlet runner blossoms too.
Summer is arriving cautiously. After three days in the 80s F, things have cooled down again, and I had a very slight touch of frost this morning. I want to plant some things I've gotten from the farmers' markets - so far a couple of tomato plants, a zuchini plant, and a borage plant - but I'll wait till tomorrow; I've other things to do today anyway.
After a warm weekend (and the first Farmers' Market), we had a couple of mornings of light frost, then got a lot of rain Tuesday and Wednesday in what would have been a spring blizzard if things had been a little colder. After today I think we will probably be frost-free until September, so I will start buying vegetable plants at the Farmers' Markets, not having started any of my own this year. I'm hoping for lots of tomatoes!
Spring has definitely arrived. The tulips are finished, the oak tree has opened its first tiny leaves, and the ash trees which took so much damage in the last hard frosts are timidly starting to leaf out again. It's also lawn mowing time. I did bits of the front yard yesterday, and need to do the back next. Not today, because we got some rain last night, but tomorrow or Saturday before the big storm which is forecast for next week. I just hope that will be all rain and no snow here - it will probably be a spring blizzard in the mountains!
After last weekend's snow and two hard freezes, which did the budding leaves on my ash trees no good at all, the weather has settled down again - 60s and 70s most days. I normally consider my frost-free date here to be mid-May, but we'll see. I hope to get in a good garden this year, after my good neighbor removed the fence-line elm on the south which was shading far too much of my yard and endangering our power lines every time it snowed. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to our local farmers' market which starts the day after Beltane (May Day). Oh, and the hawk which was nesting in the top of the big spruce next door has returned, so I'm seeing less birds at my feeders. The blue jays, however, are not much deterred - I saw a couple of them chasing her the other day!
