Getting going

There it is: the corn patch.

The smooth, plant-free aspect of this patch makes it the favorite rolling-in-the-dirt area of the Frumious Bandersnatch.

After a fairly warm month of March, leading all of us into spring early, with anticipations of all the warm, sunny days to come, spring has kind of stalled. It's been cold, and often rainy. There have been some nice days, enough to get out there and plant all the different things I like to eat over the summer. But since then, I've been waiting. And waiting. And waiting for something to sprout. I was just about to look for a non-wet day off to plant something else in the still-bare corn patch, when lo & behold, a couple of shoots came up. They're still small, and most of the patch is still bare, but there's hope for corn still.

The trees have been going strong, though. The three remaining apple trees have set a lot of fruit, far more than last year.

For the first time, the little pear tree is getting into it. Trying to make up for bearing nothing at all last year, I think. A lot of fruit trees alternate off & on years. This year is ON for apples, pears, apricots and cherries, and OFF for plums (thank goodness).

Hard to tell from here that the cherry has more nascent cherries than leaves.

But yes. In a few weeks there will be more cherries than I will be able to deal with. The trees are so big that even in an off year, for the two weeks or so that the fruit is ripe but not too ripe, every day I'm picking cherries or pitting them before freezing or making jam or making dried cherries or whatever else I'm doing with them. 

So I'm sure that spring is fully here, as the fruit gets bigger and the nights come later and the lawn needs mowing more than once a week. Still waiting for stuff to happen in the veg patch, though. The weeds are coming up just fine - why not the beans?