Warm weather is flirting with us here in south GA. It comes, along with the sun, for a day or two...and then, like the smoke of a candle, it disappears leaving dreary, rainy days behind.

We had a gorgeous day Saturday and then a cold rainy (1.25") Sunday. Yesterday was cloudy and gloomy. Today was windy, with high wind warnings, and beautiful sun. Tonight is supposed to be 30 degrees for a low.

I have all of my onions in the ground now. I planted another round of turnips, mustard greens, and beets on Saturday. I got all of my containers and barrels finished and ready to plant as well. Spread out cow manure on a newly finished raised bed.

I am about 1/3 finished with my seed sowing (running late). The seedlings are about 1 inch tall or so and are just beginning to put on their first set of true leaves.

I hope to get some more seeds sown either tonight or tomorrow evening. I have got to get finished.

I plan to complete the last six raised bed frames this Saturday.

I am so ready for spring I cannot stand it. Every year, I say that my garden is going to be better than the year before, but this year I am even more convinced.

Enough rambling for now.

Good Gardening!

Aubrey

We have at least 2-3' of snow covering everything after yesterday's storm. Long term forecast calls for highs only in 20s for 9 more days. So it doesn't look like things are going to start melting any time soon. I would be ok if we had some warm weather predicted to melt this snow, but no such luck.

It's going to be a late start for me, apparently. Only have onions and leeks started inside. Want to start some lettuce and stuff in the greenhouse but still too cold even for that.

Hi Vgkg,
I am so tired of seeing white. We got about another inch during the night, again. The last 3 winters have really been rough, and last summer, well, that was the summer that wasn't. Hope its alot better this year.
Alberta

Here in northern Utah it is still foggy and cold, the snow is beginning to recede from the south and east side of the house, but the garden is still under a foot and more is coming down-though I don't think this will amount to much.

I have access to a corner of a greenhouse for seed starting. This week I planted curly and flat leafed parsley, lavender, globe artichoke, broccoli, cutting celery and cabbage. That little bit of gardening only whets my appetite for more.

We've been eating fresh lettuces for a month now (and don't get tired of it), radishes, and gonna have one BIG butt load of peas, the herbs are great guns, had them all winter, what a blessing!. The new herb seedlings are up (in house) as well as tomatoes and variety peppers... Managed to sprout a couple of meyer lemons, know anything about them??? And just bought 3 lots next door, soooo, more space equals more garden, Yipeeee!!! A god awful house sittin' on 3 lots. We plan on rebuilding, (or should I say "renovating"?) as we live in history central according to the planning and zoning commision. A new retaining wall is first in line, a 8 footer, and thats just the front, the rest is gonna be a real challenge, lots of bob-catting, lots of sweat and gunnite, wish me luck!! darlene

Very similar story to Cochise' ( who must be pig-less by now...)

Harvesting a lot of 7 varieties of lettuce, arugula, radish, cilantro and scallions. All of the herbs are doing well and my celery will be ready in about 3 weeks. My artichokes are 2 ft. tall and the peas are flowering. Finally, a warm day with sunshine after so much rain! I have 12 varieies of heirloom tomatoes, Ichiban and Black Beauty eggplant and purple and green tomotillos all ready to go in to the garden. Problem here is that all of the cauliflower but 2 are flowering and not heading up! Same with most of the broccoli and cabbages! I grow in a community garden and we all are having the same problem. As I am anxious to get the new stuff in the ground, I am using the brassicas for their leaves, stalks and flowers. Very disappointing ... but at least we are getting edibles. Wonder if it was all the rain??
My grapes have REALLY taken off and are 1/2 the way up the arbor on either side.
It's going to be a great season : ) !!

Tikanas

Been flirting with up and down temps most of the winter here in the midwest. 50 degrees followed by the teens, then zoom, last Sunday it was 73 in Nebraska in early March. Most of the bulbs are out of the ground 4-5 inches, crocus in some areas have bloomed and wilted already. Saw a grape hyacinth in full bud on Sunday. A week ago I planted radishes, lettuce, parsley. The parsley that lived over is sprouting. The fall planted spinach I keep under a plastic row cover - nice leaves are forming - could have a very small salad but I am sure it would be tasty. Poor germination this fall so I sowed more seeds on a 65 degree day in February. Tarragon is about one inch high. Peonies sprouted in late Jan/Febr. but most of them seem to be staying low. Way too early for this part of the country and kinda scary since we will probably have blizzard in April - at the tulips and daffs will be FINISHED by then! I would love to live in a more even climate - Ohio, Indiana? I have spaded several sections of the garden and spread some great looking compost over two beds. Flopsy and Mopsy the yard cats are confused. Saturday and Sunday they were looking for shady spots and yesterday and today they are in their greenhouses (the ends of the hooped row covers - I dig down about 10 inches, pack the spaces full of chopped leaves, southside of the garage, nice and toasty) - yes, I know I have tooo much time on my hands! Piegirl reporting from the midwest

Goodness, what changes there are brewing in my yard. Garden is still not planted. I am promising myself this weekend the lettuce, carrots, and radishes will get out there...if it doesn't rain again. We keep having just enough to keep things a bit wetter than I like for planting. But I won't complain tooo much about it as that rain becomes very precious as the late spring and summer months arrive.

I cut the blackberry canes that had tiprooted. Still need to weed among them and perhaps dig up and move some of the thorny types. I pruned the grapevines this past week and am anxious to see how they perform. Last year they were all still so small I didn't have the heart to cut anything. My currants and goosebery bushes have nice swollen buds and I even spied a tiny bit of green on one van teets. The 2 blueberry bushes are also showing budding. Sand plum is pushing out little green leaves. Goumi was starting to open buds last night.

My mature apricot tree is at full bud. Moorpark is about a week behind. The nectarine and the peach trees all had a few blossoms opened yesterday. The Belle of Georgia peach was about 10% budded. The Morris and Santa Rosa plum have a few blooms. The Burbank is just showing good swell, and the green gage is a little behind that one. Apple trees are all still in the early bud stage. Bartlett pear is starting to open its buds and I expect bloom by week's end. Planted the new Hosui pear tree last night and hope it fares well. DH gasped when I told him there were 2 more trees coming that I had ordered. LOL Hey, I got his permission after telling hom he could buy a winch for his truck. *g*

Daffs and hyacinths look pretty. Need more hyacinths in front of the shrubs and the ivy bed. Crocuses are awesome and I will plan to plant another 400 in the fall. Love the look of naturalizing them on the lawn. Should plant more daffs too in big clusters..maybe along yard's edge by the street.

Dragon arums are starting to come up. One has 4 stems this year and it's only the second year. Bought a few more bulbs(calla lillies, elephant ears, and a new peony) to plant.

~Heidi

Well I got the spinach seed in the ground yesterday and also thinned out the strawberries and cleaned up and mulched the asparagus bed with compost. The soil was barely tillable due to so much moisture of late. Still cold here but thought I'd best dig whist I could...raining again now. Still gotta get the lettuces, radishes, onions in the ground as well as the broccoli & cabbage transplants, hopefully this weekend. One thing's for sure, no dry start this year. vgkg

Things going slower than usual this year, bad colds and other problems slowing things down. Did finally get the broccoli, lettuce and hot peppers started under lights. Found some great garlic popping up end of February then we started getting hit.
We've had 3 storms in 2 weeks. It's supposed to get to 45 by the end of the week, but nights are still cold as are most days. Hope to get sweet peppers started tomorrow and tomatoes toward the end of the month.

Still about 3' of snow and slowly melting. Supposed to get to upper 40s today, maybe we'll break 50. I don't want to share with you my pathetic attempt on Monday to shovel off the snow from some of my raised beds.

If we get as much as one more inch of snow I will scream.

My onions & leeks are growing well under lights. Eggplant started sprouting yesterday. Will try to start some peppers this weekend. Maybe by tomorrow I can feasibly walk to my greenhouse and start some lettuce and perennials in there.

Finally, a nice weekend for a change - at least today was anyways. Got the lettuce, radish, and carrot seed planted - giving summer carrots another chance. Also planted the broccoli & cabbage transplants. Hope to finish off thinning the strawberries tomorrow if the rain isn't too heavy tonite. Hope to clean up the seed flats to start tomatoes in a few days and Melon/cukes indoors by early April. Daffodils are blooming and the winter battered pansies are recovering nicely. Some Fruit trees budding up too. Spring is close!

First post here in the journal section. Maybe this will help me keep up with it all this year! Tilled the garden and extended it a bit yesterday. Seemed effortless this year with the new tiller on the back of the garden tractor. Hope to get some lettuce and salad stuff planted today. Just itching to get the onions and potatoes in.

Planted two new Fig tree's this week, have six assorted bare root twig fruit tree's to put in too. And a couple blackberrie bushes to experiment with.

Looks like the sun just came out! Time to go get hands dirty!

Ahh, the soil finally has dried out some after near record rains earlier.
I planted tomatoes, 3 kinds of broccoli, watermelons, onion seeds, and red hibiscus Tuesday.....heat 86° in small room. The hibiscus started up Thursday night followed soon by broccoli and most of the tomatoes and some the watermelons by Friday night.[Sangria watermelon ALWAYS jumps out of the ground first!
Anyway, I got babies to attend now. Perhaps they will get to go outdoors some next Wednesday
Only crocus blooming so far.

Garden still covered with snow.

I did plant some lettuce and greens seed in the greenhouse. Haven't checked since mid-week, it's treacherous walking out there.

Had some crocus bloom in one part of perennial garden where snow has receeded.

The snow is gone from the garden, though rain/snow is likely this week. If the rain turns to snow it won't stay long.

I spent a lot of the weekend puttering about outside, admiring the garlic, strawberries and raspberries that came through the winter. Cleaned up around the beds and hoed some early sprouting weeds. Pruned the pear tree.

I planted early vegetables in two small raised beds: favas, spinach, mache, kale, radishes, endive, lettuce, arugula, minutina and claytonia. I got another bed ready for peas.

In the greenhouse I have many flats started of vegetables, herbs and flowers.

At the garden center I bought two nice large plastic pots and a beautiful huge bowl-like terra cotta pot. I'll order a Meyer lemon for that pot. I bought a dwarf spruce topiary for one plastic pot and will shop for a bay laurel for the other.

In order to complete my vegetable garden expansion and get a lawn area ready to plant I need to get someone with a tractor to come as soon as the ground is workable. I plan to put in a small low-water gramma grass lawn and xeriscape flower bed in the back yard. That area needs to be tilled and leveled. I want to double the size of the vegetable garden (all along the side yard) and fill the small front yard with raised beds for herbs and flowers, with gravel walkways between the beds. For that area I need to have the ground leveled into two terraces, as it slopes down towards the west. My soil is rocky, so I bring in topsoil and compost from the landfill green waste program for the beds themselves. I already feel pressed for time. If the tractor can't get in soon, or doesn't show up as happened several times last year, I won't have enough beds ready to plant all the starts I have in the greenhouse.

I'm so glad spring is here, I hope is a long one.

Ellen

Well, the big Daffodils have already bloomed out due to this weird weather we got here. (Winter, what winter...I didn't see no winter!) My smaller ones are just getting ready to bloom, only because I stopped the dog from using their bed as a path.

I have several varieties of tomatoes that have sprouted and are in temp trays until bigger to transplant. My brocolli, brocolli raab, and purple sprouting are doing great, as are several basils and oregeno. The leeks and green onions have started great also. Planted out over 50 (!) Walla Walla onion starts. The pack was supposed to be 50, after planting out, still gave away over 20! Some peas are planted, but will have to redo as Chick-Chick LOVES sprouted peas - better than worms, the little pooper!
My very, very, very old apple trees look like they survived the much needed severe pruning and one must have a thousand bloom buds ready to go (last year we counted 30). The bigger one has less buds, but seems to be slower anyway, so we will see how that one does.

Well, I actually gardened yesterday, if you call "gardening" shoveling snow off beds. I have a rose shipment due in two weeks, and snow was still 2' deep over their intended place. Now granted, it's likely the snow would have melted by mid-April, but doubtful the soil would have had a chance to warm up and drain by then. What a job lifting ice-crusted slushy snow. At least it was 55 degrees out.

I pruned my fall-bearing raspberries down to ground. I didn't get around to it after last fall, figured I had all winter, and then next thing I know they were buried in deep snow. Finally thawed around them enough I could work in there.

It is easier to get to the greenhouse now that the snow's gone down. I can walk there while carrying seedling trays without as much danger as sinking and falling.

Today I am going to take another stab at shoveling off some of my vegetable beds so they'll warm up sooner for pea and carrot planting.