Early Crops

It's April 12th and I'm already eating something from the garden every day. The chives are so vigorous I am throwing them into practically everything I eat (ok, not dessert) so that they won't take over.  And the arugula, spinach, parsley, and radish sprout salad I had yesterday was vibrant and full of green spiciness.

The  trio of rhubarb plants I got from my neighbor last year are already leafing out:

I would not normally harvest rhubarb this early, but it is the perfect time to transplant it, and when I dug up a clump for a friend some stems fell off.  I brought them in and made a small batch of my grandmother's strawberry rhubarb compote (see last spring's blog entry for the recipe).  I'm looking forward to rhubarb compote and yogurt for breakfast!

It has been a dry spring and I bought some soaker hoses yesterday. Here they are in the raspberry patch:

Today we did get some rain, but not enough.  We need a nice long spring storm!

Finally, here are some flowers from the garden.  The daffodils are a mix of ones I planted and those that came with the garden when I moved in 19 years ago. I've never planted tulips because I know rabbits find them tasty, but a few pop up every year in random spots around the garden. They are often destroyed by  rain, so I guess there's a good side to this dry spell.