Spring Warmth At Last

It has been chilly here on the Central Coast lately.  The sun comes out, but you still need a sweater. It's kite flying weather. So, it being cool, the growth of my garden flowers has been slowed. That is, until today. Warmth and moisture makes almost anything grow, and when there is finally a series of warm days, flowers burst into bloom and plants go into super-grow mode.

Rosebuds I'd been anticipating opening for a few days are finally unfurling, some at a rate nearly visible to the naked eye.  No time-lapse photography needed.  The roots are warming, the sap is flowing and plants are using energy at a tremendous rate.  After this first flush of blooming, I'll trim them back a bit and fertilize again.

A woman and her husband who got sick of industrial-grade produce went off to the countryside in the midwest and bought 30 acres of land to begin a farm.  She researched the steps she needed to take by scrutinizing every article she could find on the internet and has made a success of the effort so far.  Her kids complained, it is said, about having real chores to do every day, day in and day out, but now they're stronger and have more real skills.  The woman said, "Life doesn't happen in 30-minute increments. It happens in seasons!"

One's gardening and growing effort has to be continuous and driven by the plants themselves. A careful eye must be kept on shoots, suckers, insects, watering, and feeding or the previous 80 or 90 days' work is all for nothing.

Nothing surprises a gardener or farmer more than seeing the immense bounty from the farm or garden once it's in the house.  I have one container of herbs that is producing enough for many families to use, far more than we need.

So, I saw the flowers' blossoms exploding open around me today, the sun bright overhead and then the wind galloping across the open bay in the distance, kicking up whitecaps as it came.  As the days grow longer until June, extended periods of warmth will produce even more flowers and growth than I'm enjoying now.  Hard to imagine since the garden's already flush with color, shape and texture.