Garden Update: Self-Seeders

I'll get to the self-seeders in a minute, but first this shot of my make-shift attempt at protecting our apricot blossoms from frost. Apricots are one of those fruits that are delicious home grown, but almost always terrible when purchased from the grocery store. In the fall we planted three small trees, and they were loaded with blossoms over the last couple of weeks. Of course during that time we had weather that ran the gamut from sunny and warm, to snowing, freezing, hailing, and gale force winds (currently-- argh!). All of which is completely normal for New Mexico in the spring time. Since the weather has been mainly warm, and the snowing and freezing was supposed to be just for a couple of days, my mom and I erected these tepees over the little trees last weekend. I have no idea if our row cover actually helped or not, but we tried!

Our daffodils are also blooming. Our plan is to plant 100 or so every Fall, until the area between the meadow and future orchard is covered in bulbs each Spring. The reality? We've planted bulbs exactly twice, and therefore have about 75 bulbs blooming.

Okay, now on to the self-seeders! I'm also adding in the over-wintering plants in the garden. Our last frost date is usually set at April 15th, so we're not ready to plant out any tender garden plants, however those that self-seeded and over-wintered are starting to produce again. The swiss chard...

This red leaf lettuce that self-seeded last Fall and popped up early this spring...

This flat-leaf Italian parsley which over-wintered. Its stunted so far, but still pickable!

This arugula which self-seeded...

The tarragon (my favorite herb) has come back from dormancy, as have the garlic chives...

And although these do not grow in my garden (thanks TJs!) these lovely apricot tulips have been brightening my kitchen counter along with the little wire skeleton I made one day while procrastinating in the studio...

Happy Spring!