Signs of Spring

Spring is finally sprung here in Upstate New York.  Here are a few signs of spring from around the Frugal Upstate Village Homestead!

The sight of my seed packets spilled out all over the dining room table is a sure sign of garden planning and spring on it’s way!  Yes–I really have that many seeds.  It’s a sickness I tell you!

Another sign of spring in the damp and overcast Binghamton NY area is when it’s finally warm enough and dry enough to start hanging things out on the line again.  The kids blankets and sleeping bags are a good place to start–they get some serious “funk” over the winter

I get all giddy when I start to see the rather ugly sprouts of my rhubarb poking up through their winter layer of compost mulch.  Yay!  Rhubarb is on it’s way–the first spring fruit (even though it’s really a vegetable).

And over in the back side garden last fall’s work is starting to show results–the garlic I planted and mulched heavily with chopped leaves are poking their green little shoots through!  Soon I’ll be able to harvest the occasional tender leaf to add garlic-y goodness to salads, soups and casseroles.  If it looks like a good crop I’ll also be able to harvest some of it as “green” garlic–but most of it will be left until late summer for nice full bulbs.

I’ve also got some Chives and Egyptian Walking Onions poking up, and I expect the Lovage to make a showing soon.  I just love perennial vegetables and herbs–spring comes, they refresh themselves and I reap the benefit.

What signs of spring are you seeing around your place?