Today is the first day of spring. Maybe that’s why I got up shortly after 5:00 a.m. It was 53 degrees and starting to get windy when I got up. Spent the morning outside and in the shop. I looked up to see a few Carmellia flowers on the tree. The rate this tree will create flowers will increase. The flowers bloom and then die almost immediately. They will cover the ground and require raking up weekly. The flower is bright red and round.

My broccoli seeds planted indoors have sprouted. When they reached two inches it will be time to either plant outdoors or place in pots. They’re close so I sprung into start work on the garden. However, there is prep work to be done before placing a rake to the soil. That soil is covered with leaves and a few weeds. It needs a thorough going over.

However, I noticed the unplanted broccoli seeds left in the package had sprouted. They got wet and sprouted inside the little paper packaging. These will need to be placed in soil as a priority. I gathered another tray , underlayed it with aluminum foil then topped it off with soil. I made little rows with a tiny trowel and planted the seeds.

In time the seeds that have sprouted will go outside or into pots. I filled about eight small pots with soil but decided the Sproutlets weren’t ready. maybe next week I’ll transplant.

I noticed this stringy thing all over the ground. I know they come from trees but in 11 years here never tried to figure out what tree. Turns out they’re from the alders around us and called catkins. The catkin drop to the ground and once fertilized will produce a cone that will sends seeds out, preferably far away from the parent tree. For now these 4 inch long catkins cover the ground.