After a surprising March that featured random snowfall for several weeks, we were beginning to despair of ever seeing the sun again. By now, we have officially fallen behind the folks in Ontario in the race for forsythia, crocus and leaf bud sightings. I don’t think that has ever happened before. But spring has shown her face at last. Yesterday and today have been beautiful, and tomorrow will be even warmer.

Jim spent some time working on the framework for our bunny barrier while I drove over to the garden to have a look. We had mulched half of our garden with black plastic, and a healthy crop of weeds was already growing in the unmulched side. An intrepid gardener was also there, digging over her cover crop of winter rye.

Two different ways of planning ahead for the next growing season.

In the fall we covered half the garden with plastic mulch. On the unmulched side, the weeds are thriving already.

Winter rye, planted in the fall, gives the weeds some competition. In the spring, the tender rye is turned under to enrich the soil.