The days are (slowly) getting longer, the temperatures are rising, the rain has disappeared (bad), and the chickens are laying! Or, at least, I know one of our older hens is laying, every other day. The new chickens keep going up to the hen house looking purposeful, but no success yet. Soon we will be swimming in eggs!

There were three of us for dinner last night (Rin was out of town at a competition) and I wanted to use our freshly laid eggs for something simple. I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen and we tried it last night, using our rosemary, garlic, and lemons. Oh my goodness, it was wonderful. First of all, to cook with our fresh eggs - those firm whites and deep yellow yolks - so delicious - and then the marriage of flavors from these simple ingredients - it was a winner. I highly suggest you give it a try tonight. (Note: I doubled the recipe to serve three with some pasta left over for another use, but we used all the pangrattato and six eggs. I pumped up the zest and the garlic, using the zest of an entire small lemon, and a couple of extra cloves of garlic. We also use more parmesan, generally, in almost every case.)

I’ve been casting a critical eye over many of my borders, and determining how I want to change or refresh them. It’s interesting when you decide to look at something established and then erase it all in your mind and allow yourself to think up something new. I was unhappy with how my garden looked this winter, and it’s because I don’t have a lot of formal structure, other than the trees and the fence and the raised beds, to “hold the space down” when there aren’t a lot of things going on vegetatively. One way to do this is to add height. What I’ve determined is that I need more lower canopy, either with plantings or with built structures, to provide a higher mid-level. I have high level stuff, high canopy (big trees), and bushes and low level stuff, but very little at, say, a six-foot height. I want to make this layer without making too much more shade (I’ve got plenty from the big trees, thank you). Tom and I have had many conversations about this, and things will be changing, and we’ll let you know what we decide. This sort of structure might also add a bit of mystery by hiding areas of the garden from direct view, so that you always feel you are discovering something as you wander around. Think of the walled gardens in Europe, but now picture trying to do this without walls, or big yew/boxwood hedges. It’s a bit of a challenge! Any ideas appreciated! Meanwhile I’ve been ripping out or severely cutting back some things that I’ve had for years, things I planted over 10 years ago, and replanting those spaces with something different. I also very much want to make my borders bigger and fuller. This takes time because it takes money, but ultimately I’d like to narrow any walking spaces and fill the edges with plants so that there is more abundance.

The veg garden is looking lovely and is providing us with lots of good food. Broccoli, cauliflower, beets, kohlrabi, carrots, spinach, kale, chard, and snap peas are keeping us in delicious dinners. The first batch of peppers has been potted on and is sitting under one grow light, while another new batch is slowly germinating under another. I bought a thermometer for the greenhouse so I can monitor nighttime temps. So far, it’s still too cold at night to put anything in there, but in March, the first batch of peppers will be moved there to make room for tomatoes indoors under the lights. I will also start a TON of flower seeds in flats in the greenhouse, for planting out in April/May. March will also bring the tree company out to prune all our big trees, which should allow for better health for the trees and greater light in my garden.

I found this little rock in my garden the other day, just inside the fence, and quite tucked away. On the back there was writing. It said, “Martinez Rocks on FB. Enjoy or re-hide.” I don’t belong to Facebook, but Tom does, so I had him look up the group. It’s a group of artists that are painting rocks and hiding them to bring pleasure to those that find them. Of course, I love this idea (remember my letterboxing phase?), nature and art all wrapped up in one. I wanted to find a fun place to re-hide it. Tom and I took a Sunday drive out to the Capay Valley to view the almond blossoms (the trees by our creek are blooming, so we thought they’d be blooming in abundance in almond country, but there were only a few, which was a bummer! We were too early. The Almond Blossom festival is the last weekend of February).

We stopped by Full Belly Farm, one of our favorite places, and took a walk to look at the chickens, cows, and fields being prepared for planting. I ‘hid’ the rock on a tree stump near a beautiful empty field. I hope someone else finds it and enjoys it.

Our chores for the coming weekend include our first hive check of the year. I’ve noticed the bees bringing in a lot of pollen, and I can smell the brood. So that means they’ll need more room very soon for both babies and honey.

So you can see, the chores to be done are building up, while we enjoy the fruits of the autumn work we put in last October. Busy times are coming!