Back in the Garden!

 Our fearless leader said it was time to restart the family blog. I love this pic of David!

 It's early days for the backyard farm as spring returns to Western Washington. There great blue herons have returns to their nesting roosts all around us. We counted a hundred yesterday!

The western pond turtles were out sunning themselves on submerged logs at
Juanita Bay Wildlife Refuge on Monday afternoon. Our official turtle count was 63!

And not to be left out of the action, the frogs were visible for the first time this spring. We caught sight of three. We think these are an invasive species not our small native pond frongs.

And not to be outdone by the critters, our star magnolia decided to burst into blossom today despite the cloudy morning. (The soccer balls are Anni's!)

To kick off the start of the official back to gardening season, I copresented an evening talk about backyard farming at the King County Library last Monday. It was lots of fun, with many, many questions and lots of enthusiasm.

And how does our garden grow? Well, so far, we've potted garden peas, basil, cilantro, lettuce, marigolds, radishes, and rainbow chard. I dug over the first raised bed this afternoon and planted onions, carrots, and marigolds. I've turned the compost and done lots of garden maintennance. My goal for tomorrow is to dig another raised bed and seed more flowers. My green thumb is in full motion!

Our last remaining chicken, Henrietta, Anni's clucker, has the run of the farm most days. She back to laying an  egg a day now the weather is brighter. We hope to add a couple more hens to the pen later this month. We like our lovely fresh eggs.

And speaking of broods, ours is doing well. Ari completed her degree at Bellevue College and is now on to the University of Washington, studying archeological sciences. Last quarter, she analyzed stone tool flakes as part of an undergraduate research project. Alex is a senior in high school and will be starting college this summer. Anni is doing well in her program and is now a high tech gal with her digital hearing aides, which are greatly helping her communication.

Until tomorrow, farm on!