A day of discovery -  What a glorious Oregon Spring day we've had today - although it's still way too early to really be Spring.  You can't tell that by looking.  All of the early flowering trees are in bloom, the blue herons have taken to their nests, and the ducks and geese along the river seem awfully busy.  I'm amazed at how quickly things have come into bloom this year.  Seems like we were in full-on Winter mode just two weeks ago.

Today's mild weather was perfect for working outdoors.  I started off with the goal of pulling weeds and cleaning out some of our beds.  It turned out to be a total pleasure.  Of course, at this stage the weeds are pretty small, and the soil is still soft, which makes the weed extracting  much easier.  Give me pint-sized weeds any day.  I also enjoy working at the leisurely pace these early season jobs allow. 

I started with the aspargus bed. After cleaning off the leaves we had left on the bed last Fall and pulling the weeds I happily discovered several spears of asparagus poking their noses through the soil.   The asparagus was planted just last summer, so it will be fun to see what comes up.

Next I moved on to the strawberry bed.  These plants went in last Spring and produced quite well all summer. We grow the variety Tri-star which is everbearing and produces delicious berries until well into October.  Reyn pulls the plants and puts in new ones every three years.  We're looking forward this year to a healthy crop - but usually not until June.  I was completely surprised today to find what looks like tiny baby strawberries on many of the plants.  Surely they won't really become berries, but I can hope.

This has really seemed like a day that is out of sinc with the calendar.  While working on the raspberry beds I came across an entire colony, if I may call it that, of Ladybugs.  I don't know much about their life cycle, where they spend the winter, or even when they usually appear, but I am always happy to see them in the garden.  This turned out to be a completely enjoyable day in the garden.  It's good to have a few like this interspersed with our usual rain.

Other Garden Notes:

Our little plum tree is blooming

Reyn planted peas today

Outside temerature 60 degrees - cold frame temp. 74.

The babies are thriving.