Spent the whole day in the garden, puttering, pruning, and propagating. The rhubarb is waking up, another sign that spring is here, and the Nanking cherries I planted last year are blooming – pictured below is the one planted in the horse food mound.  It would be great if they were to fruit this year, as the old cherry in the inner yard is on its last legs, and besides, the robins typically get the lion’s share of the produce from that tree..

Last week I attended a Master Gardener Advanced IPM training at the San Joaquin County Ag center in Stockton, CA.  Outside the center is a lovely demonstration garden, and I asked for and received permission to take a few cuttings of the golden currant (Ribes aureum) bushes therein.  Currant cuttings generally root especially well, so I have not doubt that at least a few will survive to join their black and red cousins in the food forest.

Today I planted the blue honeysuckles and European elder in the food forest, and then spent some time seeding spring and summer vegetables, including roselle, peppers, pickling melon, and ajowan (Trachyspermum ammi).  These I put in the glass display case topped with a heavy sliding glass door that is serving as a temporary greenhouse until I can get my “proper” greenhouse set up.  It seems to keep the soil warm, which is perfect for germinating seeds.

There’s always something to do in the garden, and I still need to get the strawberry bed in order, manure the annual rows and ready them for transplants, set up the tomato infrastructure, and weed the garlic bed. I counted the garlic today, and there are about 103 plants, all hardneck varieties. With hardneck garlic, every clove planted yields about five cloves. The garlic won’t be ready for harvest until June or July, but remind me to save ~20 of the biggest for planting in October.