It's Spring in January

Today my mind is finally turning to the garden.  I've been studiously ignoring it all winter even though I know there are so many unfinished projects out there waiting for me.  We have had a little winter cold this year, but all in all, it's been pretty mild.  Only one snowfall which quickly disappeared.  There will be more - it's only January!  But this is what we come to expect on the West Coast - and in particular in the Gulf Islands.

Today I ordered my seeds from West Coast Seeds and T & T Seeds.  The latter was on my list because it was where I finally located Health Kick Tomato seeds.  My plea to West Coast Seeds went unrewarded!  That done, it was time to hit the garden.

I finally got the raspberries pruned and in shape.  They look very vigorous and this year I cut them about 5' tall.  Hopefully this will help to keep them in bounds.  As I headed up to the garden to dispose of the old canes I noticed that Abraham Darby (rose) is looking very fine!  He obviously is flourishing in his new home.  This rose has lost no leaves during the winter and there are even a few buds in evidence.  Then I saw how the King Edward Currant is breaking bud.  It was time to take a "spring signs tour"!

King Edward Currant buds getting ready to open

There are some plants I expect flowers from during the winter, so I grabbed my camera to take the census.

Viburnum flowers for the Anna's Hummingbirds we see in winter.

One of our viburnums (we have several varieties) starts blooming in November.  By January, it's starting to really show off its pink blossoms.

Purple Helebore

Then there's the purple hellebore that a neighbour gave me many years ago.  I planted it down below the house at the edge of the woods where it often gets forgotten.  It certainly never gets watered - or even weeded - but it seems to thrive down there and thrusts up its blossoms every year.  At this time of January, it's just getting going.

Hazelnut Catkins

We have 4 hazelnut bushes and the 2 older ones are dripping with catkins.  The 2 small ones are too young to have catkins yet, but they have a delicious secret hidden in their roots.  They've been inoculated with perigord truffle spores!  We can expect truffles in a couple of years.  When I edited the picture of the catkins (above) I notice you could make out the tiny dark pink flowers.  Look really hard - they're not easy to see!  Click on the picture to make it bigger, look where the catkin joins the branch and you'll see the flower.

Oriental Poppy

Oriental poppies are also sending up leaves at this time of the year.  This particular poppy is a pale pink one - name unknown.

Flat-leafed Italian Parsley Seedling

I've been picking herbs throughout the winter and the Italian parsley I planted a number of years ago freely sends its seeds out to create new plants.  It casts so many that I'm always pulling up plants but there are always more to help out the kitchen.

Bright Lights Swiss Chard

Tour finished, I picked a bouquet of Bright Lights Swiss Chard for tonight's dinner and headed in for a cup of tea.

Garlic Scapes, Snow Peas, Kale and Tomatoes

Garlic Scapes

Now that we're into June, the garlic is starting to send out scapes.  These are the "flower" portion of the garlic.  Not really flowers, though.  Once matured, the scapes contain lots of little tiny bulbils, each capable of becoming a garlic plant, although it takes a lot longer than if you grow from cloves.  They're best removed, however, as you will get smaller garlic bulbs if you don't.  They should be snipped off before they curl around twice.  One of the nice things about garlic scapes is that they're deliciously edible.  Taken young, they can be eaten raw in salads.  Allowed to get a little older and they become more fibrous, better for soups, stews, etc.  Mine are still young - they've only gone once around in the loop.  I picked off a couple and chopped the stem portions up fine to go in a quinoa tabouli for today's lunch.

Snow Peas

The rest of the garden is progressing well.  The snow peas are flowering and a few tender little pods are forming.

Zig Zag Snow Pea Fence

The fence is holding up well and I'm wondering just how tall these plants will be!  The lettuces in the zags are maturing and it's probably time to start seeding some new plants.  I'll probably sit them in the zags or in amongst the kale so they can take advantage of the shade.

A variety of kale plants.  The garlic bed is behind.

The kale plants are now providing us with good pickings.  In the picture above, the closer rows are younger plants - Vates and Russian Red.  Behind them is Lacinato with it's tall elegant plumes.  Then at the back are 6 plants of the winter kale - Siberian for one which has quickly become my favorite.  I can't resist picking off a leaf and eating it raw on the spot!

My crazy tomato frame

A couple of days ago, I erected the tomato frame.  My raised beds aren't deep enough to firmly hold stakes for the tomatoes.  The uprights in the picture are plastic-coated metal rods from Lee Valley Tools.  To the uprights, I've lashed bamboo poles using hemp twine.  While it looks pretty "Heath Robinson", it's amazingly sturdy.  Some of the tomatoes will climb to the top and drape themselves over the cross pieces.

Iris Thriller and unknown oriental poppy

June is the best month for flowers.  The oriental poppies briefly flourish, irises and asiatic lilies are at their best and peonies flaunt their frothy blooms.