It's so amazing to me how different each Spring can be. Last year at this time the garden beds were all cleaned out and supplemented with new compost and natural fertilizer. The greens had been planted and were growing strong….all before black fly season.
This year has been completely different. It's been cold…and rainy…and cold. Too nasty to really enjoy working in the garden very much…and…the black flies have already arrived….sigh.
What was amazing however this year is my herb bed. I was very good about pruning my herbs last summer and fall, but I never really dismantled the bed, other than to plant some garlic and cover those garlic bulbs with shredded fall leaves.
So imagine my surprise when I took a stroll out to the garden last week and saw this. Yes, that is my sage growing strong and green…yikes!!
…and my beloved tarragon…yes, green. Whee!!! Now mind you, I always have thyme and Oregano coming back season after season, but never my Sage or Tarragon plants. I was blown away to see how healthy they looked.
Even the lavender looks like it is going to make a comeback. You can see the little green sprouts under the dried brown plant. Amazing!
I have a sneaking suspicion that these garlic plants may have a little something to do with it. Last October, I planted a number of garlic bulbs in the herb bed and then covered them with a few inches of shredded autumn leaves. I only covered the half that the bulbs were living in, but I wonder if that was enough to insulate the bed enough to protect the rest of the herbs….that and the snow that we had. It was a very cold, snowy winter, so I can't think of any other reason why these herbs would have survived the winter, but I am beyond thrilled that they did!
I am looking forward to spending the weekend cleaning out the beds and getting them ready for planting. 🙂
To celebrate the arrival of Spring, I wanted to knit with green. I actually cranked out this sock in 2 days which is an all time record for me. I am going to try to finish the second one over the weekend, which will be a first for me. A pair of socks in less than a week? Who knew? Certainly not me…LOL.
Enjoy your Spring weekend!!
The Woolen Rabbit 
Here (in central MA) I was racing to get fencing done before the black flies (aka Spawn of Satan) arrived this year…can you imagine anything more provoking than trying to fence through a tangle of bittersweet and blackberries WITH black flies? And they sure are here now – ugh.
The sock is beautiful! Good luck on your weekend knitting 🙂
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Nice sock!
I’m afraid my spring veggies are not doing well, with all the cold, rain, and snow we’ve had. All I have are a few straggly, tiny pea plants, and maybe half a dozen wee spinach seedlings. Everything else got frozen or drowned. And now we’ll probably launch right into the heat.
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Well how lovely to see your garden! I am so pleased things are alive and well. And I think you are right about the mulch having protected things. That makes sense. Oh dear, black flies – we do not have them. They sound particularly awful- mind you we do have our pests, however. I hope you plant some Italian pumpkins, zucca. I would love to see your results!
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Herbs are nice, but do please tell about the sock, please.
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Spring has definitely been fickle this month. We haven’t even put out the deck furniture yet. Too bad the black flies didn’t delay, too, eh?
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A lesson learned! Next year we’ll know to much our herb beds for a bit of insulation from winters frost. If you put some lettuce in now you may have a salad, with fresh herbs, by mid-June. The sock is lovely! Deets, please!
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Loved, loved, loved the sock. You didn’t say what the pattern is–I’m hoping you don’t mind telling! I am always curious when I see gardening photos about what part of the country… I have limited space for my herb garden, but have been harvesting chives and tarragon for about a month. I live in the Denver area. Jo
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So pretty! I think we are throwing in the towel on the garden this year — too many years of getting it going only to come home from work and have the whole thing gone courtesy of the garden critters.
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Mmmm. Such lovely rejuvenation in the garden bed. My sage did that last year, I forgot (or chose not to) prune it, and it FLOWERED.
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Boy, do I feel dumb. You graciously answered my query about the sock…and about the part of the country. So, today I went to my woolen rabbit bookmark, clicked and realized your locale is mentioned right in your masthead. If I only … Jo
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I planted a few things two weeks ago, but it hasn’t stopped raining long enough for me to slog out there and check on them!
I’m thrilled your lavender survived. I’m starting some from seed indoors and I’ve found a warm, sandy spot for it, which I’m going to surround with white stones to reflect heat and sun. So far, I’ve never had luck getting it through the winter.
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