Seasonal Renewal of the Floral Sort...

We've been discussing the arrival of spring and how it has such a different schedule at different locations in our county (see our March 2009 post: Time Travel into Spring ). It's hard not to be jealous of those with a longer season, but I can't say I don't appreciate the longer rest before all the garden work begins in earnest. Sort of like sleeping in on a Saturday morning!

At any rate, it got me looking for those first floral indicators of the season's change and, it seemed, overnight they were everywhere.
I had just commented that our first daffodils, against a south facing wall with it's sheltered advantage, had just bloomed and then, in the next few days, I started to see wildflowers everywhere.

First I noticed the little pink flowers that are often, with dandelions, the earliest wildflower here. I have always called them Spring Beauty, but cannot find them in any book, by that name or any other. In the family Onagraceae (as far as I can tell), they closest resemble some of the smaller Clarkia. But they bloom a month or so too soon! Do any of you know what this charming, little pink flower might be?

Looking around I realized that Dandelions had also been blooming a while. I could tell because some had already gone to seed puffs. Globes of wish-fairies waiting to be blown into the air.
The common Dandelion, Taraxacum officinale, spread throughout the world from Eurasia to become one of the most familiar wildflowers studding lawns throughout North America. Despite being generally considered a weed, Young Dandelion greens are nutritious and delicious in salads or soups, the roots have been used as a coffee substitute, and wine is made from the flowers. A versatile weed, indeed!

Along with the dandelions were one of our favorites, Bell's, or English, Daisy (Bellis perennis ). Close to the ground in a rosette of leaves, these little daisies have aster-like flowers often tinged with pink. These are the flowers with which our daughters and granddaughters make daisy chains to adorn their hair. Another immigrant, it originally came from Europe.

Other extremely early wildflowers here include the tiny, blue Veronica arvensis, also known as Common Speedwell, and pagoda-like Red Deadnettle (Lamium purpureum ). Both tend to appear in areas where the soil has been disturbed, which is why they blanket our vegetable garden now, before we have begun to work the soil. They cover any area the cover crops we plant have missed. Both of these also traveled to the America's from their native Europe and Asia.
The Deadnettle, despite it's name and appearance, is not related to other nettles and does not sting. It does provide a nectar source for bees before other flowers have opened.

Interestingly, of the flowers now blooming, only the one we are not sure of may be a native to our Northern California mountains - maybe. I am always amazed how many common wild plants here are non-natives. Especially as no one built or lived on this acreage before we moved here and began to build up our farm and business back in the 1970's.
Other than these, I see no flowering plants just yet, but it is soon to be. Shoots and stems are popping up all over meadow and forest.

While it is too wet and muddy to work our vegetable garden just yet, that doesn't mean things are entirely in hibernation.There is overwintered parsley, kale, chard, and carrots. Our very late planted cabbage are ready to pick and the "All-the-year-round" cauliflower is just starting to make heads. We even still get a few side shoots from our late broccoli now and then.

And, looking ahead, in snug little trays the seeds for this years cole crops, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and such, are sprouting and getting ready for this 2010 garden.

Only 2 weeks before the Equinox and Spring's official beginning - We can't wait!

Eating Well...

We have been planning our garden for months.

Late winter is spent perusing seed catalogs and choosing what we need. We generally start tomatoes and peppers indoors in February, cabbage and other cole crops soon after. But only since April has the weather been such as to allow us to play in the dirt outside.

Our cole crops, onions, lettuce, chard, and peas are now planted in the garden proper. We also have overwintered garlic, leeks, multiplier onions, and early spring greens and radishes already producing in barrel containers made from the drums our soap oils come in. These barrels are critter proof and have good drainage, unlike the garden's heavy clay soil. We also filled 2 whole upright barrels (with drain holes in them) with soil and planted an artichoke in each - yet another attempt to foil the gophers from another of their favorite delicacies.

This year we are building a retaining wall and leveling out the main part of our garden. It sets back our planting dates by several weeks, so we are starting even more plants indoors to be ready to transplant when the project is done. It delays our garden harvest gratification, adding to the bit of envy we feel seeing all the early bounty in the Farmers' Markets out on the coast where the climate is so much milder (see our blog post: Time Travel - into Spring).
On the other hand, now that these markets are up and running for the season, we can get a preview of the garden delights to come.

No matter where you live, you probably have access to locally grown fresh food. As big and as urban/sub-urbanized as the United States is, there are still community gardens, small farms, and local markets virtually everywhere. Getting food from the area where you live is a good experience for many reasons. Not only is the food fresher, you get to experience what is "in Season" and close to the earth, and you support your local farmers. On top of that, the carbon footprint of local produce vs. that which has traveled hundreds (if not thousands!) of miles is much, much smaller. And, environmentally speaking, that is a huge benefit even if you leave out the part about supporting your local ORGANIC farmers.

So how to locate sources of fresh local food near where you live?
One way is to use the "Eat Well Locally" search tool to the right of this post. Another great tool is LocalHarvest. Use it to find farmers' markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area. Enjoy!