Spring has Arrived (or at least the tulips have emerged)

The weather has been absolutely beautiful here the past few days!  The kids are so happy to be playing outside without their cumbersome winter clothing.  And the tulips we planted as part of Journey North's Tulip Test Garden project have started to emerge.

We have been keeping an eye on the area where we planted the bulbs in the fall for the past couple of weeks, and on Friday Madeline noticed that 5 of the bulbs have sprouted.  Today she counted 8!  Their arrival was evidently a signal to Madeline that it is time to get ready to plant our garden.  She spent a long time Friday afternoon clearing the leaves and debris out of the garden.  We are now ready to plant some lettuce (and maybe some spinach if I can find some seeds).

Carrots and Beans

We were outside today checking out the site for our Tulip Test Garden, and while we were there we decided to check on our garden.

Most of what we grew this year is done, but we have yet to harvest carrots, and the bean plants just keep going.  The girls decided to dig up some of the carrots.  They are small, but much better than what we got last year, which were basically tiny roots.

They also picked some green beans.  We are amazed that there are still some beans out there that are very tiny and won't be ready for a while.

They are planning "carr-bean" salad for dinner tonight.
We also found a woolly bear caterpillar munching on the carrot greens, so we added him to the container with the one we found earlier this fall.  Of course, we included some carrot greens.

I think we are going to have to vote on the location for the tulips, however.  I had a spot picked out for them, but Isabella has other ideas.  I think we will have to go over the criteria for the experiment and pick the spot that best fits the criteria, or maybe plant them in both locations.  We are excited to start the project, though.  I need to go find a soil thermometer so that we can be sure to plant at the correct time.