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Hello Spring?

March 20th, 2013

This is what my garden looks like this morning (only with 6 more inches of snow).  Very fitting since it’s the first day of spring.  
Low Tunnel Greenhouse 3
The weather is a strange thing, this time of year you just never know what you’re going to get.  I have photos of snow in my gardens in Ohio in April, but then one year my mom and I planted our potatoes and peas on St. Patrick’s Day. You definitely take notice the weather as a gardener. Some years are hot, some are cold, there are wet springs and dry springs. That’s why you always plant a wide variety of plants.
Low Tunnel Greenhouse 1
It’s a good thing I went out on Monday and added some greenhouse plastic to the hoops in the potager.  I did it to start warming the soil in order to plant spinach and transplant leeks.  I also wanted to protect the soil from this snowstorm.
Low Tunnel Greenhouse 2
Now the ground underneath will remain dry so I can plant in it earlier.  This summer, I have plans to add a large walk-in hoop house to the garden for winter gardening.  I can hardly wait!

What does the first day of spring look like in your garden?

15 Comments to “Hello Spring?”
  1. Mich on March 20, 2013 at 5:16 am

    Sadly not bright and sunny thats for sure :(
    Its rather murky out and we had yet another frost last night, with more wintry weather on the horizon next week.
    Not sure if the garden is ever going to be dry enough to plant out potatoes or anything else at this rate. Aghh.

    Reply to Mich's comment

  2. kristin @ going country on March 20, 2013 at 6:02 am

    Frozen. As usual.

    Reply to kristin @ going country's comment

  3. kathi Cook on March 20, 2013 at 6:46 am

    About the same as yours. Since I had the day off from school,I made a scarecrow out of snow (I refuse to call it a snowman) in my garden. Hopefully it will scare away any more snow we may get.

    Reply to kathi Cook's comment

    • Susy on March 20, 2013 at 7:28 am

      Great idea, I should do that as well!

      Reply to Susy's comment

  4. daisy on March 20, 2013 at 7:48 am

    We are scheduled for some much-needed rain today. Such a blessing. My dahlias are blooming!

    Reply to daisy's comment

  5. Sherri on March 20, 2013 at 8:04 am

    LOL, my garden looks VERY much the same! We just came out of a major blizzard with -20C temps. Yesterday, I shovelled a lot of snow INTO my unheated greenhouse to irrigate in there as daytime temps are nice and toasty. I plan to plant cold weather crops tomorrow in hopes that I’ll have some fresh greens in a few weeks! Perhaps I’m overly optimistic, but this is my first Spring with a greenhouse so it’s all trial and error at this point. For the cost of seed, I’ve got nothing to lose :)

    Reply to Sherri's comment

  6. Jennifer Fisk on March 20, 2013 at 8:20 am

    My garden is so pristine looking with a foot of snow covering the piles of bunny berries I’ve dumped in it.

    Reply to Jennifer Fisk's comment

  7. Nebraska Dave on March 20, 2013 at 9:33 am

    Susy, I was wondering just how much winter weather you were having in your new place. Our last five inches of snow has finally melted off but the temperatures are just not warming up yet. This morning the temperature was 16 degrees with a high of 35. The next four days are cloudy with the possibility of snow. It might be officially Spring but Nebraska weather doesn’t know it yet. I am soooo ready to get out and start digging in the dirt. There’s so much to do before planting time. It looks like one of those Nebraska years when the weather just turns from cold Spring weather to hot summer weather with no real transition time. Each year brings a new set of garden challenges, doesn’t it.

    Have a great snow garden day in Maine.

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

  8. amy on March 20, 2013 at 10:58 am

    It is cool here today but it beautifully sunny! Which lifts my mood considerably…..and in my opinion gives everything outside a face lift!

    Reply to amy's comment

  9. Mary Schier on March 20, 2013 at 11:03 am

    Sunny, but it was barely above zero when I walked our dog this morning. No early spring in Minnesota this year!

    Reply to Mary Schier's comment

  10. Chef Debbi on March 20, 2013 at 12:24 pm

    I love living in So. California, only spring sneaks up quickly and I never seem to be ready! But here we can garden most of the year so I’m always puttering with something.

    I’ll post some ‘spring cleanup’ photo’s on my website if you want to take a look.

    Chef Debbi
    debskitchen.com

    Reply to Chef Debbi's comment

  11. Joy Giles on March 20, 2013 at 3:15 pm

    On the other end of the spectrum, we here in Austin, Texas, had an 89 degree day Monday and now 69 for today. Thank goodness we can use row cover for shade. Early tomatoes are up about 2 feet.

    Reply to Joy Giles's comment

  12. Sierra N Hampl on March 20, 2013 at 5:03 pm

    It is very cold here in Ohio, and snowy off and on, but it isn’t sticking. Happy Spring! I need to get on it and order my seeds!

    Reply to Sierra N Hampl's comment

  13. AmyS on March 20, 2013 at 8:20 pm

    What seemed like bitterly cold weather today with winds gusting up to 15mph and high of 31, it’s a great start of spring eh? One year ago it was 80. The midwest is very unpredictable! I’m ready for green grass! My garden needs tilled and was hoping for it to be done Friday. We have a winter storm in forecast for Sunday unfortunately!

    Reply to AmyS's comment

  14. Myra on March 21, 2013 at 9:28 am

    In SE Ohio we’ve had a lot of rain and Sunday we got 3 inches of snow which was washed away by Monday rain. Snow tide! Our garden is so muddy you can’t even walk in it without sinking in.

    Reply to Myra's comment

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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