Spring Time in Austin

Last summer we had the heat. Over the winter we had the freezes. Now we get the reward.For the brief time it will last, Spring is here in Austin and this morning's Farmer's Market was an explosion of fresh colors and flavors. The Market moved from Sunset Valley to the back of Barton Creek shopping center and at 9 this morning, it was full of happy people.



Somehow, over the next week and a half, I will create dinner plate art using a palette of red and green asparagus, lovely carrots that would make Peter Rabbit cross into Mr. McGregor's garden without a thought in his head, and strawberries. There is no joy sweeter than Texas strawberries. They come around for such a brief period, so for the little time we have them, it is strawberry salad, strawberry pie and shortcake with berries tumbling through cascading falls of whipped cream.

We hardly ever eat lettuce, but I was unable to resist this lovely ball of red red leaves gently cupping the delicate green inside. Maybe just a simple salad with thin slivers of parmesan and a light basil viniagrette.

I just learned something new. If you click on the photo, it opens up and you see it larger. Maybe the whole world already knew this, but I was pretty excited. Sigh - it takes so little!

THe baby turnips will be easy. Sliced thin and tossed with red onion,serrano chile and a little apple cider vinegar they'll make a perfect salad. I've already eaten one with just a little salt and it was sweet and mild.

Sometimes, in the middle of August, when everything has to be accomplished before 10 A.M. it's too easy to forget that we have this glorious spring. The bluebonnets are competing with the coral paintbrush for attention and I saw the first baby this morning - a small brown Nubian goat, curled up in the grass. Everywhere I look I see redbuds covered in pink blooms and the Lady Banks roses climbing over every possible surface in their yellow flowers. In my own yard the daffodils have had their turn at center stage and the irises are just a few weeks behind. Nala's rose has the first bud on it and Thistle's rose is getting tiny green leaves. While I weeded, Daisy and Boris lay close by, just enjoying the sun and breeze.It's all good right now.

Spring - sort of

After all the cold, we had a stunning week of temperatures in the mid 70's. with bright sunshine. I was supposed to be off for Spring Break (a.k.a. mandatory furlough), but life interfered and I spent a good part of it parked inf ront of the computer. Still, I was looking at my backyard, which, even though it is still an idea in progress, beats the heck out of looking at rooftops in downtown.

I did get time to pull the weeds up in the planter area that was done this winter. I spent one amazing afternoon talking to my daffodils and telling them our stunning I thought they were.

For a day I thought I had a rare red crocus in the middle of the yellow and purple ones. Before I spent the fortune I would surely make from selling the offspring to every commercial plant breeder in the country, I took a closer look and realized it was a tulip that had opened when the plant was barely out of the ground. Since the only tulips I planted were supposed to be huge red things, there is obviously a problem with growing tulips here. Still, the daffodils are a bright shot of sunshine tthat tells me it s spring.

Do scroll down and look at the planter beds when they first went in. The look adds so much to the house that Tim wants to get the front section done immediately. This is good because I ordered 35 plants from High Country Gardens just to do the front yard and really had little idea of where I was going to put them. Gardening is like that - I order the plants, expect that I will get the beds built, the soil ordered, the weeds pulled. Life slips by and UPS drops off a box on my porch and there are tiny pots filled with life forms that need to snuggle into the dirt.That's just the yucca, lavender, gaillarda, honeysuckle, agastache..et al. Then there are the Heritage Roses that came in and still need a bed to begin spring in. Obviously this is a very serious addiction and I will never move past it.