March Comes In

Here in Chico, the adage is usually backward: March comes in like a lamb and goes out like a lion. We had an exceptionally long "Spring Break" of nice weather through February and early March, but it's supposed to start raining soon. Unfortunately, that means it might be raining when Sarah and Nathan are here.

But, in the meantime, the last couple of weeks have been glorious. We took advantage of the nice weather to till up row 3A.

Rick C. brought over some starts of broccoli and bok choi. His attic seed starting area is working out well. He waters in the newly transplanted starts.

The almond tree is in full bloom

As is the apricot.

And the peach.

The cherry is just starting to blossom, and the plums are blossoming. Here you can see 3A with the brocs and boks. I planted the next row over in a variety of greens.

Giant Red Mustard, Blondy Chard, Winter Red Kale, Green Mustard, Red Chidori Kale, Win-Win Choi, and Yellow and Magenta Chard. I planted sparingly, and tried to intersperse the colors in a pleasing manner.

I also planted some more peppers and tomatoes to put in Rick and Catherine's attic. Three colors of cherry tomatoes plus Sweet Tangerine tomatoes, Pasilla peppers, Cuban Seasoning peppers, Serrano, red and orange Thai, and Biker Billy Jalapenos. I then gave Rick seeds for about 50 more plants, including red, yellow, and orange bells, more Serranos, Cubans, and Jalapenos, some Holy Mole peppers, plus more Sweet Tangerines.

This blue jay is helping us out by eating some sort of huge pupa. He looks like he has a big ol' stogie in his mouth.

The chickens have just about finished on rows 7 and 8. I pulled the rest of the broccoli out of row 6B and have put them on that as well. I think we can plant that in carrots. The soil will be nice and loose.

Just a couple of days ago, the irises started to bloom. There is just a little bit of overlap between the late daffodils and the early irises.

The onions and garlics are loving the warm, sunny weather.

And the greens are doing great also. All the arugula bolted, so that's all pulled out now, leaving more room for the baby lettuces.

The favas are in full bloom. I haven't seen any beans setting yet, but they are covered with ladybugs and bees. It's nice to see our ladybug population hatch out before the aphids get really going.

Speaking of bug issues, we went over to the Ag Mart and bought a sprayer and some organic horticultural oil. Rick sprayed the grape vines thoroughly last weekend. That should help cut down the whiteflies. We need to spray again this weekend to follow up. Rick and Buddy have also been getting after the back of the house area. Here the chickens are helping.

That corner was a real mess, but they're finding it.

The forsythia is just starting to bloom now, and you can see that the daffodils are fading. Does this gazing ball make me look fat?

A few clouds make the apricot blossoms look even nicer.