So much promise

One last nod to my trip before we move on to the garden. I was lucky enough to make it to the main market in Barcelona, and saw the most amazing stands of seafood and sausages and hams! The vegetable stands were not as impressive as I had hoped, but look at this beautiful display of fresh eggs!

Now I am home and in my own yard, and it is just a wonderful time of the year to wander about, touching and smelling the fruits and flowers. The garden in late April holds so much promise! Insects and diseases are yet to take their toll, and everything is fresh and green and looks oh so productive. Lets step away from the vegetable garden for a minute, and look to some of the other edible plants in my landscape. Here is a young new European plum (the type you use to make prunes, and that we learned to love fresh for breakfast, two years ago in Sicily). This is the trees first full year in the garden, and I am thrilled to see a few fruit on the branches. The fig is covered with it's usual, early crop of big fat figs. The apples are too numerous to count; we will have to thin these, and soon. The shitake logs are budding with new mushrooms. Finally, the lavender is in full bloom, and it's aroma is almost too good to bear. Yes, it is spring, and anything is possible in the garden!

Madeira Portugal flower festival

I will do an update on my gardens this week, but in the meantime, here are a few shots from the annual flower festival in Madeira, Portugal last week.

Tomatoes in, I"m out

My 4, yes only 4 this year, tomato plants are in the ground. I planted them in among the lettuces, as the lettuce will be waning when the tomatoes really get going strong. Every year I overcrowd the tomatoes, and so don't get the yield I should. Not this year!

The beans I planted both too early and using year old seed were, no surprise, a failure: two plants emerged from half a bed. I knew better, but can't stand to throw away seed. That bed will be replanted. But not this week, because I am on my way across the ocean, from the Bahamas to Portugal to Spain. The house sitter will take care of all the animals and hopefully harvest some kale and spinach and lettuce. When I get back, the garden, with the exception of that bean bed, should be bursting with growth.

Something new every day

Every morning now I find something has either popped out of the ground, opened up new flowers, or doubled in size overnight. Oh it feels so good to be outside! Here are a couple of photos from my gardens this morning. Note the species tulips that naturalize and come back, in greater numbers, year after year. No need to pull out the bulbs at the end of the season. Look at the tightly curled fiddleheads from the fern, and the thick, beautiful asparagus shoots. Finally, the spinach is so big and beautiful I had to include it again. I can't wait to get out in the yard this weekend.