I made it to the garden center on their opening day in time to snap up four strawberry plants and a couple packets of seeds, and later in the evening, headed down to the garden to do some planting and see what was growing:

As you can see, my broccoli (which I planted last fall as a seedling) is growing florets, my tallest peas are as tall as my fingers, the strawberries I already had in my plot developed flowers, and my greens are finally growing.

Also, I am delighted to report that my fears that I had somehow killed a hardy woodland flower were unfounded and that I arrived to violets all over the periphery of my plot, which is where I wanted them.

I harvested a bouquet of them for the top of my fridge, but left plenty for our pollinators because it’s good to share. I also picked sorrel, some spring onion, and a branch of rosemary.

It’s nice to see it starting to come together.

I dug up all the violets in my strawberry patch last year and transplanted them to the edges of my plot, hoping to maximize space for both of these early producers. Unfortunately, I’m not sure it’s paid off, since I saw hardly any when I was there yesterday.

Luckily, there were violets elsewhere, and maybe I’ll try transplanting some wild ones later in the season.

In the meantime, here are both purple and white violets growing wild in my neighborhood:

The recent rains have left my garden lush and green, filled with unruly violet leaves and impertinent creepers, and I’m sure a new crop of broken glass (a prolific crop in any urban community garden) is pushing forth into my plot.

I hadn’t visited in two weeks. Since they’ve been cool and rainy and I expected nothing to be ripe, the only real risk to a prolonged absence was that the weeds would overrun the plants I wanted to grow. When I’d last been down there, we’d harvested our cauliflower and some of the sorrel, which has shown its displeasure by becoming even more overgrown. When I head down again this week, I’ll need to make sure to bring a bag big enough to pick several handfuls.

The tallest shoot of my peas has grasped its way to the height of my waist, and others are climbing up our string trellis in fast pursuit. The vines are strong and covered with flowers, with one transforming into a pod.

It’s impossible to tell I pulled out violet leaves at the start of the month to give our strawberries more light, but it doesn’t seem to have harmed them any. All of the plants I could see had early berries on them, which means they should be red by Memorial Day.

Whatever seemed to be munching on my bok choy has moved on, and all three plants are looking good. The basils, too, are solid, as are the rest of my herbs. And even this 42 Days tomato, the lone one we’ve planted so far (my Sheep & Wool plants remain in my hallway), is thriving, with yellow flowers cheerfully promising fruit to come.

Later this week, I’ll need to head back down and plant tomato and pepper seedlings, beans, and potatoes, but for now I’m pleased with how the garden grows.

As I mentioned yesterday, I spent several hours last weekend finishing my garden prep: The beds have been cleared of dead leaves, which I use during the winter to keep the ground from hardening too much during the off season, and I’ve planted a bunch of seeds — greens and peas, as of right now.

My garden, last Sunday:

A close-up of my peas:

And a few parting shots of violets, for those of you still dealing with wintry weather:

This weekend was pleasant, but oh, so short!

On Friday after work, we celebrated the sun by taking our books and beverages up to the park. This park is one of my favorite things about my neighborhood, and I ended up there on Saturday, too, when it was a bit less fair out. But there’s a little caretaker cottage that gets used during the summertime with a generous overhang, so as you can see I didn’t let a little rain stop me.

I’m really pleased with the camera on my new phone and I took a bunch of photos on my walk home”

Saturday also included a visit to a couple embassies for EU Day, when members of the European Union open their D.C. embassies to the public for a few hours. I visited Cypress briefly, where things were winding down, but then moved on to Slovenia, which was far more lively.

In the evening, we had a party for Rudi at our local board game bar. We ate and drank, had cupcakes, and played Trvial Pursuit and Jenga, both of which Rudi won, which seemed only appropriate.

Yesterday, I went to the farmers market and spent three plus hours in the garden. You can see that the violets and the sorrel had been loving the rain:

I yanked violet leaves (although left most of the roots), because they share the plot with my strawberries and had far eclipsed them in height. Now that sun was in the forecast, they needed to be able to start turning red! I also got 20 plants in the ground, most of which were acquired last weekend at Sheep & Wool. It took a while, but I hope this will be my last long day in the garden for a while.

This morning I was up early to get breakfast for Rudi, since it’s his birthday. After work, we’re going out to dinner at a new-to-us restaurant (a Christmas present from my brother).

How was your weekend?

I think I mentioned earlier this winter that our community garden has gained closed composting bins. I have not composted before, but it’s one of my goals for 2015.

I’d like some advice, though.

My major concern about composting is pest control. Not of the four-legged sort, but of the six-legged variety. I know us and the most frequently we’re going to get down to the garden is twice a week, and that’s probably more likely in the summer than the winter when there’s nothing to water or harvest. So something that seals well is imperative.

Second, I want something smallish. (Not small, mind you. Just not gigantic.) I’d rather not have an in-cabinet option, since once you’ve had pests living in a cabinet, even if they’re long gone, it’s not something you’d like them to make attractive in any way. However, we also have a galley-style kitchen, so space is at a premium.

Finally, weight: It’s roughly 2/3 of a mile to the garden, so something light, but still scent-impervious is preferable. Biobags are only allowed to be composted if we shred them, so I admit I’m not ecstatic about the idea, but am willing to consider it if folks say it’s my best bet.

Do you compost? Do you like the in-house container you use to do so? Suggestions and thoughts are appreciated.