Hmm, more snow and (potential) ice coming?

Yikes, this winter has been really strange. 

The Prunus mume (that I saw starting to flower again last weekend) may be totally blasted. 

At least the predicted temperatures are quite moderate. 

The forecast is all about snow (and potential ice) and full of hyperbole about snowfall (I think because of all of the previous storms and severe temperatures this winter).

We could be inundated with snow and ice in the upstate of South Carolina over the next few days, or maybe not.  We'll see.

It all depends on where the fronts collide, it seems.

At least I haven't planted any peas yet!  I haven't even managed to get out and take soil temperatures or turn the beds.  And my raised beds in the mountains -- hmm -- they'll be replanted totally from scratch -- I don't think any of the perennial herbs made it through the severe cold of January.

Hmm, seeing previous incarnations of spring planting is always encouraging.  Here's an link to searches about previous blog posts about "spring vegetable beds."

My raised beds in the mountains and the piedmont at the moment look really sad.  They're ready for change-outs.  They're waiting for spring.

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Swapping out cool-season to warm-season veggies

It's been a strange spring, for sure.  But it's finally time to harvest the last of the greens to make room for the tomatoes, peppers, and squash in my mountain raised beds. The early planted tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers have survived, but they vary in how they've coped with the unseasonably low temperatures, too.

The early spring cole crops (direct-seeded) are bolting, although the lettuce that I put in via transplants is still looking great (and it's tasty, too, thanks to cool weather).

I'll be putting in more tomato plants this weekend, as well as sowing beans, squash, etc.!

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Looking forward to spring vegetables!

I'm doing a program this weekend about "creating an attractive and sustainable vegetable garden" and it has me thinking hopefully about spring vegetables.

I'm feeling behind on sowing seeds and getting started due to travel and a bad cold, so am ready for thinking positively about lettuce, spinach, beets, arugula, mustards, peas, etc. -- all the spring possibilities that can be totally successful (and delicious) depending on the vagaries of late winter/early spring weather.

I've STILL got offset baby leeks to transplant, but hopefully they'll catch up quickly when I have time and energy to do that.  I managed to get in onion seedlings and transplants this afternoon, but they suffered a bit from a delay in planting (due to my being under the weather), so it'll be interesting to see how they fare.

In the meantime, this view of June raised beds in the mountains last year cheered me up!

Raised beds in June

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