Spring will actually arrive!

We had beautiful spring-like weather here yesterday. I think it hit 64 degrees. Even though it’s too early and wet to do anything in the garden, I wandered around the yard picking up limbs and sticks. Then I gathered up dried leaves to mulch the daffodils that have broken through the soil. They don’t know it’s going to get cold again this week!

I also found the first flowers of spring – snowbells (see photo). The plant is the height of my index finger. A friend gave me some of her snowbells a few years ago to plant in my flower garden and they are a delightful sign that winter is ending. Unfortunately, I’ve pulled some of them up during my weeding frenzy of warmer days (they look like long grass when not blooming) but there are a few, including these in my Marian garden, that survived. Now I need to mark them so I don’t pull them up, also!

The sun also inspired me to plant my first seeds for my “indoor greenhouse,” which is the window in my office. Every year I like to try something new so this year it’s leeks, which need to sprout and grow inside for several weeks before they are ready for transplanting. It was so nice to see dirt under my fingernails.

Before I knew it was going to be so warm, I made a pot of butternut squash chili with one of final two squashes from last season. I love the recipe not only because it tastes so good, but I can also use our canned tomatoes in it. So we have a good pot of soup to carry us into this week.