Garden beginnings

It is a great time in the desert right now. Our last frost was about the middle of March and we have had lovely days (70's) with (so far) little wind. It sure gets the gardening juices flowing. I started tomatoes, peppers and cantaloupes, as well as some flowers and herbs, a couple of weeks ago and they are putting on weight in the cold frame.

The soil is already at 50 degrees so this week I got the carrots, beets, green onions, and various lettuces and greens in the ground, and the peas and broccoli raab are up. Everything heavily fortified against rodentia and the birds, including gambel's and scaled quail, but against mice primarily. The little bastards are still getting in however, and I am getting one to three mice a night in my live trap. (I know, I am a sap). Dan just made a minor adjustment to the cages this morning, hopefully eliminating the less than one centimeter gap that the mice can still get through. All will be well once the plants have some size and can stand getting a minor nibble from time to time.

The grapes are leafing out and tiny bunches of fruit are showing. The fruit trees have done their thing, or rather the bees have. Look at these apricots and there are so many of them! Of course the birds and insects, and the odd coyote, will be after them too, but I will deal with that when time comes. I hope the apricots will be ripe before the june bugs are hatched.