First planting session...

...finally!

I planted the first tomatoes today. I managed to squeeze in 10 plants per bed. They may be a bit close together, but let's hope for the best. (I always plant them a bit close together, it seems to have become a spring ritual, I'm afraid.)

There are stardroppers at either end of the beds, plus one in the middle. Later in the season, when the plants grow bigger, I'll use some twine to weave it around them - called 'Florida Weave' - and that tucks them in nicely.

I also started on the other summer vegetables. Zucchini (Golden Summer Crookneck), cucumbers (Armenian), okra (Burgundy) and tomatillos.

There are still quite a few plants left to be planted, but one day at a time! How are you going with your spring planting? :)

Berry patch

The raspberries, youngberries, silvanberries, tayberries, etc. are flowering madly.

The paths are getting narrower and narrower.

Flowers and bees everywhere.

The bees are loving all the flowers.

It's amazing to watch these creatures fly from flower to flower.

 It's also interesting to note the differences in bees.

Strawberry beds

The berry patch looks stunning. Soon we will have all kinds of berries to pick.

We made a few new strawberry beds this year.

This one is a 'walk-in' bed. (It was a bit windy when I took that picture.)

 This is an 'old' bed and to be netted very soon.

And some of the berries are already blushing.

Photos of the other berries will be in another post. :)

The things you discover...

...when you finally brushcut in the orchard.

The gooseberries have fruit on them! Wow. Now I better protect them from the birds. :)

First feast of broad beans

We picked the first broad beans today. They are still quite small, but that's how I like them. This way you don't have to shell them and then peel off the tough outer skin. This is what they look like after shelling them. Cute, aren't they? :) And they'll be very sweet, tender and tasty.

Busy bees

The bees are having a field day. The days have warmed up since the snowfall. We had temperatures in the mid twenties and lots of sun. Everything has grown like crazy. Tons of plants are flowering.

The bees are busy flying to and fro the hive.

For the first time today I saw bees that were more than laden with pollen. They are covered in pollen!

It's snowing!

Just for the record. It's spring.

 And we don't get snow in winter normally either.

 So. This is today's weather.

11.29am and 5.4C on the balcony.

And it is snowing. Madly.