today i removed the mulch

[tjg911]

in the past 12 hours the last of the snow on the garlic bed melted. it was there at 8 am but gone when i happened to look at 4 pm. the garlic is in the extreme southeast corner this year and the entire south border is the last place to have snow on it. 2' west of the end of the garlic there's still about 3" of snow to the western side. so at 4:30 i went out with pitch fork and wheel barrow.

i expected the ground to be frozen due to the snow cover and mulch but it is not. i had put 6" maybe 7" of shredded leaves on the bed nov. 18 and it had compressed to about 2". about 1/3 to 1/2 of the garlic bed has shoots now and they are 1" tall, my timing was perfect. i put some shredded leaves back on for mulch about 1" deep and i'll add some more in a few weeks as needed.

it is always such an amazing sight to see the pointed yellowish green spears coming up when it's still so cold. while i like winter and dread what's coming i do have to admit it is such a rush to see fresh growth in the garden. hey it's still winter for a few days, nothing else i grow would survive night time temperatures this early.