Why I Love Spring

I love Spring!  Those first warm days when you can work outside in the garden without a jacket and everything starts to bloom.  The air is warm and sweet with the smell of lilacs.  You can hear the sound of cicadas and the crows calling to each other.  I love buying seeds and trying new varieties of melons or beans.  It’s the anticipation of things to come.

I love the first spring flowers, primroses are the first flowers to bloom in my garden.

...and then the bulbs.  I’m not sure what these are called, Mr. RK bought a package of years ago and they spread like crazy so they’re now showing up all over the yard.

Then there are the volunteer Johnny Jump-ups (or violas).  I planted some in a pot about four years ago but now these show up every spring in odd little places, often between the cracks of my walkway.

and the wisteria that hangs over the fence...so beautiful...

I love decorating with flowers.  This year we bought some little ceramic pots to line the edge of the raised garden beds and filled them with pansies.  (you can just make out the transplanted tomatoes behind them.

I love watching the fruit trees bloom and checking each day to see how many actually turn into timy fruit.  These are pear blossoms.

and apple blossoms.  That’s my neighbor’s bee helping to pollinate.

I love watching the tiny nuts and fruits grow on the trees, thinking about the recipes I can try with them when they’re ripe.  These are almonds, we have lots of almonds this year.

and the apricots, they’re my favorite. 

This year we have our first artichoke.

and our first truly large cauliflower.  We’re going to eat this bad boy for dinner!

So, it’s time (here in Northern California anyway) to transplant tomatoes into the ground and plant the rest of the summer vegetables.  Today we planted three kinds of squash, 2 varieties of melons, green onions, green beans, pumpkins, basil and lots and lots of flowers.  Happy Earth Day!