While there isn’t much to look at or write about out in the garden these days, things are slowly beginning to show promise of some spring-like changes! Daylight Savings Time is now in effect, the temperatures are growing slightly warmer, and last week witnessed the return of the robins from their winter roosts. We could be in store for more snow and cold but at the worst it would be a matter of days or weeks compared to the months of winter that we are emerging from.

Yes, there’s a change in the air surrounding my vegetable garden but unfortunately it has nothing to do with the heat wave that we have been experiencing. High temperatures and drought continue to dog the garden but at least there have been no more groundhog sightings. Despite the sweltering conditions my garden is beginning the transition from summer into fall veggie gardening.

Well, I guess all it took was a little talking it up to finally get a decent deluge of rainfall on the garden’s raised vegetable beds. Water has been a major topic of conversation on this website over the past few days; with the recent Fountain Review and the Newsletter’s focus on irrigating the garden.

It’s been a while since the last garden update but I’m afraid this one isn’t going to be pretty! What was shaping up as a perfect growing season just a couple of weeks ago has been tempered by the disturbing signs of extensive damage from an unwelcome intruder.

The spring veggies are maturing or approaching harvest time and the garden is yielding Kohl Rabi, broccoli, green garlic, and huge, sweet heads of red and green varieties of heirloom lettuces. Overall the garden looks good and is showing promise of a great growing season.

Last week was wet and cool but the weather has improved greatly and it’s beginning to feel like springtime here in Central Pennsylvania. The Red Buds and other flowering trees are in full bloom, the grass needs mowing, and I’m finally spending more time tending to the garden.

I finally spent some time in the vegetable garden this weekend and there are signs of spring all over. From the green lawn, where a neighbor was actually out mowing the grass; to the trees, which look like they are ready to just explode with blossoms, leaves, and seed pods.

The first fall frosts are far behind and we’ve experienced many nights of below freezing temperatures, but the past couple of weeks have brought very mild weather with daytime temperatures often reaching close to seventy degrees. Not bad weather for the month of November! As is normally the case, getting the garden through those early season frosts has rewarded fall vegetable gardeners with the bonus of additional weeks of terrific growing conditions.