A few days worth....

Sunday---

I took a few pictures yesterday, some things are waking up and i'm getting a first look at finding out which things survived the winter.

The comfrey crowns are definitely waking up.  They seem to have done quite well wintering-over in my last resort solution- a full bag of potting soil with holes poked in.

The roseroot seedlings that i didn't get to do anything with last year are still alive and beginning to wake up.  Its a type of sedum, the roundish lumps are hard to see...

The rhubarb is coming up, this means the ground is thawing.

The grapes and blueberries are still under a snowpile.  I tried to speed up some melting by opening up a black plastic trash bag and laying it down. I hoped it would catch the sun enough to help,  it sort of did in the small spot it was placed
.
 We are expecting temps in the high 50's and possible rain,  so maybe the rest will be washed away.  That line is the only snow still on the ground in our yard.

Hubby helped me scrape away quite a bit of it and the edges which were packed by refreezing was breakable. We crushed it into chunks and tossed it into the dryer parts of the lawn.  We got a good bit of it cleared away.  Now that the landscape fabric is exposed, melting should speed up quite a bit.

Monday--

thunder overnight and more later that morning
we actually were able to have the bedroom window open all last night
steady rain most of the day. Temps in the high 40's
The grapes are thawing out nicely.

We do have a crocus in bloom and the daffodils are  making decent headway. That's a good sign.
I managed to rake out the debris from the front and side flower beds Sunday. I think once the tulips, daffs and other things are done blooming i will dig them up and share them with my mom.  The iris and roses will go too.  Then i'll put down landscape fabric then mulch it.  I may put something in later in the summer after any weeds have been choked out.  I really can't put much in there right off because it is so full of weeds, which is one of the main reasons why it needs to be cleaned out entirely anyway.

Tuesday---

Last night it stayed in the 60's over much of the state until well after midnight. Its in the mid 50's right now at about 10am.

Temps expected to reach mid to high 60's with plenty of sun and a dry breeze.
The grapes, blueberries, currants and elderberry are 90% free of the ice.  There is some ice behind them, but it no longer goes right up to the base of the plants.  Some of them are getting swollen leaf buds even though the ground around them is rock hard.  Today's expected weather should make a huge difference now that the black landscape fabric is mostly exposed.

According to the forecasters,  we shouldn't expect this weather to last to stick around for tonight.  We may get a rain/snow mix overnight.  We are only supposed to get around 40 degrees tomorrow and plenty of rain- better than snow!  Hopefully, Thursday will bring back temps in the 50's or better.  For the remainder if the extended forecast, we will stay cooler- 40's- and more rain toward the end of it.

So...the ground will have a slow thaw and things will remain quite wet. I'm glad the garden is on a mild slope, this will help it to stay drier than most other areas.  I'm hoping my dad will be willing to come and till it on the next dry weekend.  I'm hoping to have him till it at least twice before the final pass-through the day before planting.
I wish we had one of these. Then i wouldn't have to make my dad need to load his onto a trailer 4 times a year just for me.

Where last year was so unusually warm, this year is almost normal- perhaps a bit cooler.  It feels weird though- i spent so much time recording how spring was going last year i tend to remember it better than if i had not. So to me, it seems like things are way behind.  At this time of year i'm always close to chewing my nails off in anticipation no matter what the weather is, which means its not an accurate gauge.   I love winter, but after 4 months of being snowbound, its hard to not get excited about gardening for those of us who really enjoy it.

Both the tomato, eggplant and pepper seedlings are doing quite well. The Banana Legs tomatoes have sprouted and now look quite normal- so my apologies to Pinetree- it looks like the seed was fine. I bet this variety may simply be slower to germinate than the rest of what i have.
Many of the seedlings are getting into their first set of seed leaves. The peppers and eggplant are looking nice and stocky. The tomatoes are not spindly, but they are already getting tall, the lights are only about 3" above them and they have almost reached it.  The lights should be very intense, but it looks as if i will end up with some lanky tomato plants this year anyway.  So i'm making a note here to start things a bit later next year- perhaps a week from now would have been just as well.  Its ok. Now that i have a method and means to remind myself of these things, i can learn by it.

Pictures:

Yellow Crocus

Pink Bleeding Hearts are waking up

Roseroot sedum are green up and enlarging quickly

Rhubarb is really unfolding

Currants getting leaf buds

Blueberries are waking up

Garden looks a mess right now, hopefully not for long.

I have to get into my berry plant seeds and get them started or i'll never get large enough plants to use in the yard.  I have been putting it off because someone small and cute does not like to take naps and i am so tuckered out by the time she does, i end up napping too- and i have never been able to do that before. It just isn't right. I literally cannot stay awake at times.  Hopefully this goes away for the summer or the garden is going to be in trouble!