In my defense, I guess that is how you would look at them, too, if you had been in my yard yesterday. It is still too cold to sit or lay on the ground to get a better view of them.
Speaking of sitting on the ground, did I read somewhere that sitting on the ground is how gardeners used to figure out if the soil was warm enough to start planting? If they could sit on the ground comfortably, it was warm enough to plant.
I don’t have to sit on the ground to know that it is still very much frozen and my “grand plan” to plant peas on March 6th, isn’t going to happen. I need to come up with a new date, and I am thinking about March 16th. I don’t know if that is a good day to plant peas temperature-wise, moon phase-wise or otherwise, it is just my new goal. It also means I’d have peas planted by St. Patrick’s Day.
O.K. I figured out what I was doing wrong. The last anonymous comment was me too. DUH.
The first thought I had when I saw this picture was. Wow, if it’s too cold to plant, I wonder what’s laying eggs in Carol’s garden?
It’s good to see a glimpse of the beautiful things to come. Enjoy.
I read in “Old Wives’ Lore for Gardeners” that Lincolnshire farmers were supposed to plant barley only if they could do it only after sitting on the ground without their trousers on–for the same reason–if it was too cold for them to sit in the dirt on their bum then the ground was too cold and damp for to plant.
I thought that they were eggs too!!! Ha, Ha, fooled us!!
I don’t think that I will be digging in my garden for awhile, unless it warms up. It is frozen solid!!
Yes Carol, Von’s bookstore did have a fire, but as far as I know, they are back. I really don’t like to pay full price for books, so I tend to go where I can get a deal. I have a member card for Barnes and Noble’s, so if I am going to pay full price, I get it there.
My grandfather in rural Illinois used to plant peas and potatoes on St. Patrick’s day. I don’t know if they did better that way.
Here is an interesting web site on phenology – gardening by nature’s signs. It suggests that a good time to plant peas and other cool weather plants is when lilacs leafed out. Alternatively, to plant peas when daffodils begin to bloom.
I do like the imagery however of sitting on the ground to check the soil temp.
(http://www.ghorganics.com/Phenology.html)
A sign of spring down here is if you sit on the ground and hastily jump up to brush off the fire ants.
And yes, I also thought they were eggs!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Barbara Damrosch had an article on pea-planting times recently. Me? I’ll even miss planting on Queen Latifah’s birthday (Mar 18th); there’ll still be snow on the ground.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/21/AR2007022100460.html
Yea! It’s coming (spring, that is)!
White is hard to photograph…I have trouble with my crocus and the snowdrops (so far…)…so, don’t be too hard on yourself!
I liked Daniel’s link up there. Phenology is so interesting!
My first thought was also eggshells , left over by birds.
In Germany we have rhymes (farmer´s rules) for each occasion concerning farming, the weather or animals. For sowing peas these proverbs suggest the 22th february (St.Petrus) for sowing peas:
“Ist an Petrus das Wetter gar schön, dann kann man bald Kohl und Erbsen säen.”
If the weather is fine at St.Petrus´s day you can start sowing cabbage and peas.http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bauernregeln_(humorous)
Gosh, what is that green stuff all over your ground? Doesn’t look like my white ground!!!
Yes, I thought they looked like eggs, too, but I assure all, they are crocuses. I haven’t gotten home before dark the last two evenings, so I don’t know if more are blooming, but I hope so.
I’m still hopeful about planting peas in a few weeks, but I’m going to need some cooperation from “old man winter” to move on out of here!
Thanks all for the comments and references!
Hi all,
I remember the fire ant days Annie! We hardly have a bug up in Seattle. Well, except for aphids.
For me, Spring is here when the Crocus comes up and then the Cherry blossom buds form. Thankfully we don’t have to worry about frozen ground, just soggy ground.
Cheers,
Patrick – I Heart Gardening