Sunday 9 April 2017

Around the Yard: April 9


I used this picture for the main photo as it was the only bright photo I took this week - Balsamic Strawberry and Rhubarb Oatmeal Bars I made earlier.  And I still have some of each left in the freezer which should be sufficient to last until I have fresh rhubarb of my own.  The remaining photos are from out and about in the yard today and it can take a while for the green grass and bright flowers of spring to arrive in this part of Ontario.


Despite the dreary look, it's a beautiful day today.  As I'm writing this, it is 15 degrees C according to my new backyard AcuRite Weather Station (which is now the weather link on my blog sidebar).  I picked it up on sale over the winter and I'm still trying to understand all of the readings.


The one part I can read perfectly well though is the amount of rain I've had in my yard - 95 millimetres in the past week.  As you can imagine, I've got a few temporary ponds here and there.  I've used a bucket and put some of this water into the rain barrel to use for watering the greenhouse and the nearby garden (where I expect the squash will end up this year).


But I also still have plenty of snow. This will take at least another month to melt due to the trees blocking much of the sun at this time of the year.


I've been turning over some of the main garden area and have put out some of the leftover hay bales from last year that had been stored in the garage over the winter. I still have another six to put out once I decide where they'll go.

Everything is just so brown at this time of year


And I'll leave off on a brighter note - the tomato and pepper seedlings are happy to see some natural light, albeit through the windows from inside the house.  Here are just a couple of the varieties I have underway:

Jalapeno and Hungarian Hot Wax

Corno di Toro peppers

8 comments:

  1. Another weather station owner - I love it! I have come to rely on mine quite a bit, though like yours it seems there is a LOT of data captured. Happily we have green here now and pretty much avoided the white stuff all winter. We got a bit of rain last week but nowhere near your 95mm! The garden is still too wet to work, though I hope to get out there tomorrow and see how it looks.

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    1. Yes, I knew you also had your own weather station. Fun - I look forward to learning more about the data.

      I have a long weekend off work coming up and hope the garden has dried enough to start working!

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  2. Oh, very jealous of the weather station! My peppers are about as far along as your are - I've just potted them up but it still seems like such a long time until they end up outside. And you've reminded me that I've got to get a jump on getting my bales.

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    1. I find peppers take longer than tomatoes, but out of habit I start them at the same time. Ah well, never a bad idea to get a jump start on things. Like those bales you need to get!

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  3. It's nice to see that that white stuff is disappearing! And the peppers and tomatoes are growing. My peppers haven't even germinated yet (fingers crossed) but the tomatoes are getting their first kiss of sunshine.

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    1. We had a few bad moments, but it was rather a mild winter overall. So the snow should be gone sooner than most years. I'm sure your peppers will be just fine :)

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  4. I still can't believe how different your climate is. It's great you can start some things off early, ready to go out when conditions improve. Conversely, we've had hardly any rain here and the soil surface looks very dry...hopefully underneath the soil is holding on to moisture though.
    The oatmeal bars look very yummy. We're on our last tub of strawberries from the freezer...it's a big tub though!

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    1. I recall checking your general location and was also surprised how much warmer you are! Ah well, I'm used to working in these conditions, would be strange to have a different climate to suddenly grow in.

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