We rolled into the Eden of Garden just in time to catch thousands of daffodils in bloom. What a welcome. There isn’t a leaf on a tree, the lake is still kicking off a bitter breeze and there is standing water remaining from one of the biggest winters they’ve seen here in over 50 years. But the daffodils, they are ushering in spring with a big bright yellow “howdy!”

We also have several beds of cold-kissed (wintered over) carrots waiting for us. Cold-kissed carrots are the best type of carrots. We planted them last spring (like a year ago) and they’ve been in the dirt for almost a year at this point. Carrots left to winter over become sweeter as they are exposed to frost. The Boss puts a thick blanket of straw over them to keep them from completely freezing. He also construced a wire cage around them to protect them from rodents. When the Farmer’s Market starts next month, we’ll haul the remaining cold-kissed carrots to market and they’ll get snatched up before they hit the table (pro tip for those attending the market who want carrots: reserve your bunch ahead of time.)

Unfortunately the lettuce and spinach we planted in the fall with the hope that we’d have greens awaiting us in the spring was a bust. Damn! Our winter cold frame experiment seems hit or miss and we have’t quite figured out what special magic is required for consistent yields of spring lettuce and spinach.

Speaking of special magic, the tulips are exploding like flowery fireworks. Nothing elevates my spirit like hundreds of tulips in bloom. I’ve got big bouquets all over the house. They are fabulous and I wish you could all see the fabulousness in person because photos don’t do it justice. Pure joy.

We’ve got our work cut out for us getting Eden of Garden up and running for the summer. The Boss has lists upon lists upon lists covering our kitchen table. He’s planning out the garden, prepping beds, weeding, tilling, raking and generally working his ass off sunup to sundown. As his lowly apprentice, I’ll work on my own little tasks (like getting fresh compost on our struggling strawberry beds) until he calls me to do some planting.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in 20 years of gardening with the Boss, it’s that the best way to help the Boss is not to help him at all. I do my very best to stay the out of his way. So, I’ll be over here hauling plant starts in and out of the garden shed until the Boss gives me permission to put them in the ground (which might be a while, it’s been a chilly Spring).

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