Spring comes to Michigan! (finally)
Finally! After a long, long, long winter, and a cold and wet early spring, it seems that finally we are in for some nicer weather. The trees are finally leafing out, and flowers are blooming.New life has begun right under the front porch roof- a pair of Robins has started a family on top of the porch light, and while we could have removed the nest before they laid eggs in it, it seemed like a mean thing to do- it was so sweet and perfect, well protected, warm and dry for the little ones. From last year’s experience, I knew it would only be a few weeks slight inconvenience before the eggs would hatch and the babies fledged. Within a few days, although the parents fussed at us whenever we left the house, the nest had three, then four beautiful blue eggs in it, being kept warm by two diligent parents. They got used to us coming and going, and while they would fly off the nest if we got too close, they stopped fussing and dive bombing us unless we reached up to snap pictures.
This morning, while working in the garage, I noticed one of the parents perched on the edge of the nest, rather than sitting in it. She seemed to be looking down into it, so I thought just maybe the eggs were hatching!
When I finished my work in the garage, I got out my ladder to snap a picture of the inside of the nest- the only way we can see all the way into the bottom. While they are far from cute yet, the two newly hatched chicks will be joined by their two siblings soon and in just a few days double in size, start to grow feathers, exhaust their parents in keeping them fed until they completely crowd each other out of that deep nest and are forced to fly off and explore the world.
It’s been spring in my basement for a while now as all of my seeds have sprouted and are quickly outgrowing my shelves, some flats have even been moved out to the greenhouse on the deck- cabbage and broccoli like the cooler spring weather, and so do phlox and lobelia. The indoor shelves are crowded with tomatoes, impatiens, zinnias, and a few other things to plant around the condo, or out at our vegetable plot we are calling ‘The Farm’ or ‘The Back .040’.
Last week, I got a new shipment of seeds from the ‘Seed of the Month Club’. Italian Flat leaf Parsley, Black Beauty Zucchini, Cylindra Beets, and a packet of Mammoth Sunflower seeds. Some of them will be planted here- the parsley I can put in my herb garden, the beets and zucchini can be planted out at ‘The Farm’, but the sunflower will have to be saved for next year- it’s just too big and tall. Some time in the next few weeks, we should be able to start planting, and I can hardly wait! If you are interested in The Seeds of the Month Club, there are links below to find out how to join.
The Seeds of the Month Club is distributed by Mike the Gardener Enterprises, LLC, who also administers the largest Vegetable Gardening page on Facebook.
Beautiful blog!
-Hannah Scarlett Smith