After an unusually wet California winter, our first week of spring has blessed us with a riot of color on the homestead. It seems silly to say it, but when I initially started gardening I felt like I should invest in “practical plants” only. My frugal mind balked at purchasing plants simply for the sheer joy of it so I stuck with veggies, justifying each purchase with the thought that I was “saving money in the long run”.

In a lot of ways I’ve mellowed out over the years, and thankfully I’ve finally granted myself the luxury of investing in my favorite thing; flowers!! (After all, they are cheaper than therapy…)

I have quite liberally sprinkled them around the property this year. Jacob and I enjoyed a wonderfully muddy project in the fall planting some bulbs we got for a great price from Costco and it has been so fun for us both to witness the fruits of our labor popping up with fabulous color.

Here is a picture of my hard worker the day we put in the bulbs.

And here is the same area now!

Mixed in with the flower garden are a few edibles including our baby Concord grape that we put in about a year (maybe two?) ago, and to the left you can see the tiny start of a Blackberry bush. We can’t wait to enjoy some fresh berries.

Below is a closeup of the grapes; just starting to put out some leaves. The gardener in me rejoices with each little bud and blossom!

The kids inspecting the soil. 🙂

The bulbs are a mix of tulips (light pink and deep purple) and the little purple guys I believe are something from the Hyacinth family (but if anyone out there knows, please correct me). Either way, they are lovely.

To add additional interest and color, I’ve added Ranunculus and Stock, with some Alyssum for fragrance and as a filler.

As always, I have helpers on hand to dig holes and give advice (and sometimes unwanted pruning!)

Now that the days are longer, the girls have been laying more regularly and we are getting four fresh, beautiful eggs a day.

Shortly after we purchased the house we were blessed by a gift from my grand-dad, who conveniently happens to be a former dean of agriculture (and thus has access to amazing plant specimens!). This apricot tree was just teeny tiny little spindly stick really when we got it, and this year it’s really blossomed. Literally.

The winter veggies are still hanging on as well. We are still enjoying Kale, Collard Greens, Arugula and some herbs including Borage.

We count ourselves blessed to live in such abundance in so many ways.

How are you preparing for spring? What projects are you working on?Please let us know in the comments below. And stay tuned for our next post, which will explore our latest front yard garden ideas and projects!