08 March 2014

Winter or spring?

The weather is spring-like. The calendar says winter still. Yesterday Walt cooked hamburgers on the grill. It's the new grill, and getting it going took a couple of hours. But once it got started it was great. It must be spring.

Everything is moss-covered at the end of winter.

Other signs of spring: I washed the car. Boy, did it need it, after all the rain. Afternoon temperatures are in the mid-50s F, but it feels warmer than that in the sun. The car looks almost new.

These dried sedum flowers are left over from last fall.

Some signs of winter remain, as you see in these photos. There's lots of moss everywhere, because it's been so rainy. But it's feast or famine: now they say we won't get any rain for the next 10 days. Big high pressure systems have moved into this part of the world, preventing maritime rains from coming our way.

Different mosses growing on and around trees in the woods we walk through

That means the ground will get a chance to dry out and I'll be able to till up some garden plots. It's a little early to plant much, but we can grow some radishes and maybe Swiss chard. Our summer growing season doesn't start until May 15 in these latitudes.

Morning haze in the vineyard

Today, we'll be barbecuing again. I bought a nice chicken. Memories of winter: we still have several spaghetti and other squashes to be cooked. Poulet et courge will make a good lunch. But it's not quite warm enough for lunch out of the terrace yet.

2 comments:

  1. You can still plant broad beans and early peas, onion sets, shallots, garlic... Put a piece of black polythene or an old tarp over your tilled patch and let it warm the soil for a week then sow carrots, parsnips, beets, cabbage, herbs, practically anything except the really tender stuff so long as you put a cloche or fleece over the top to keep the frost off.

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  2. Oh, I know that Walt was excited about using the new grill, so I'm glad for you two :) We had grilled and BBQed pork... yummy :)

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