Spring Has Broken

  I got up this morning to wonderful sunshine and warm weather. The temperature at 5 AM  this morning was 50 degrees and for here, that is very warm. It must have gotten up to 70 in the afternoon. I soaked it all up. You can tell by the red on my arm. I was smart though and remembered to wear my gardening hat which has a large brim to protect me from the sun.
  Don and I were busy getting the compost that has been sitting all winter spread around the yard. We got most of the fruit trees, some of the berries, the bamboo and the greenhouse beds filled with the compost. Now I have to finish turning the compost into the beds in the greenhouse. We did get some of it turned in yesterday and got the tomatoes planted.
  My tomatoes that I started this year are still very small, they barely have there true leaves, so Don and I decided to purchase some of the vegetables from the store so we could get things started. We don't have a very long growing season here on the mountain so every little bit of time that we can save in growing we will. My greenhouse doesn't seem to do very well for starting plants. I still haven't figured out the best time for doing that. I still need to do some experimenting.
  I got the vents undone in the green house so they can open and close on their own. If you remember from an earlier post, I had tied them closed because of the strong winds we had been having. The vents just popped open when I untied them yesterday. I do have some some sugar peas growing in the greenhouse and we should be able to harvest some of them in a couple of weeks. I also have some chard growing also. I harvested some yesterday, now I need to figure out how to cook it.
  I know it is still early in the year, our frost end date is usually around May 15th, but like I said earlier, we need to get stuff going here as soon as possible. Today I plan on getting some green beans planted in a garden that is protected by the greenhouse and gets lots of sunshine. I also plan on getting some sweet corn planted and then covered with re-may, which is a fabric used to cover crops to protect them from frost and birds that like to steal the seed.
  The horses, goats and chickens were very content yesterday also. Sure is nice to see everyone so happy. The birds have started to return. We have lots of banded tail Pigeons that come around every year. The Blue jays (Stellar jays) are here by the droves, I like there color but they can be a pest. I have seen some Humming birds, Swallows, Juncos and some I am not sure what they are yet. I have to look them up in our bird book. The bees were buzzing and the flowers that are blooming were fragrant. God has created such beauty in everyday life.
  I worked my buns off yesterday and was pretty sore last night from using muscles that I hadn't been using all winter. I am ready to do it again today, God willing, and the sun comes out. It is foggy this morning and a bit cool. We are suppose to be getting more rain, hope it holds off for a while.