patiently waiting for spring

this winter has been very cold for us.  before you laugh, we haven't had this many cold, below freezing days in a long time.  last year we overwintered lettuces and greens because it never got that cold for very long.  this year has been a different story.  now that spring is on the horizon, we have had a few warm days and we have taken advantage of them to do some much needed work in the yard.  

out back in the yard, we have a leaf corral and 3 compost piles.  we still haven't raked up all of the leaves in the yard, think back to what i said about it being too cold to work outside.  we never did have that wonderful indian summer that makes raking leaves tolerable.  darry uses the leaves as the "brown" material in our compost pile.  

a close up of the piles.  the one in the foreground is a finished pile that is ready for use in the garden.  the one in the middle is ready to age, no new material will be added.  the farthest one in the back, which is obscured by the middle one, is the collection pile.  we are still adding to this one.  darry is checking out the leaf corral, making sure the fence is secure.

the view from the front, left is finished, center is aging and right is the new pile.

signs of spring are evident in our little round bed located in the front yard around our little maple tree.  the buddha is watching over the sprouting daffodils, tulips and hyacinths.

a close up of some of the daffodils

also sprouting are the peonies.  they are one of my favorite flowers and their season is just too short for me.  they are gone before i have a chance to get tired of them and then i spend the rest of the year waiting for them to bloom again.

here darry is prepping the vegetable garden for spring planting.  he is turning the beds and this year, he added some lime to the beds since we suspect that the soil is just too high in acid.