WINTER'S WRATH SHOWS UP NOW!

Oh, my! The snow is just about all gone, but what appears now is just not nice!

This was a hard winter. We had a number of storms that brought down trees and branches. Those storms blew debris around in places it shouldn't be, and just in general, left a mess.

So, it's time to prioritize my EARLY spring jobs.

The first order of business is to check for color wherever it might be. There should be crocus buds around the rock gardens. Little pearl hyacinths should be popping up next to the walk. Daffodil shoots should be pushing up in the driveway circle. I'll don my boots and head for the hinterlands of the garden.

Then it's "pick up sticks" time. I'll bring a big purple bucket along to toss all that debris into for dumping in my newest brush-pile.

After I've accomplished that, I think it will be time to find the grass/leaf rake and begin to pass it over the garden beds. It's good to do this before too many shoots come up. Most shoots will not be bothered by a leaf rake jostling it, but obviously, the earlier the better where that's concerned. I'll try to leave as much mulch as possible. It's always good to be prepared for a late season frost, so better to leave the covers on the beds as long as possible. When I'm done there, all that stuff will go into my poor, old, broken down compost bin. Actually, I lied. I'll put it NEXT to the bin. I need to let the compost thaw out so I can utilize it before dumping new compostables on top of it!!! Some things just need to go in the proper order.

When I'm done with those chores, I'll think about what to do next. (Probably nagging my husband, son and grandson about creating firewood out of the 4 trees that fell.)