A "Springy" Kind of Day

The vernal equinox came and went with a good old fashioned Nor'easter last week.  We got about  a foot of snow to celebrate this mighty day when the earth's axis points neither toward nor away from the sun. I'm pretty sure last year we were experiencing an early, warm spring while this year it seems to be taking it's sweet time.
Ah, but today...the sun was warm, so warm I pulled out a chair and sat on the deck knitting while the kids busied themselves with the beginnings of a tree fort.

 Lucky for my little early riser the neighbors didn't mind his banging one bit.  We've been looking through our books for a couple weeks now.  We really like Tree Houses You Can Actually Build and Handy Dad for lots of useful information.  I also scored this book at a book sale last summer and It is so fun!  The author weaves the story of his own childhood adventures of building a tree house (among other things) while giving directions on how to do it yourself.  The idea of a tree house has been in the plans for some time now, but now that the monkeys are a bit older they can really take part.

A nesting bird has been discovered (can you see her hiding?) and Corey is looking forward to tracking it's progress (I think she's sitting on eggs) daily. We're still trying to figure out just what kind of bird so we'll keep you posted...oh how I love homeschooling.

 This day has been splendid, for the first time I feel spring in the air and I'm ready to be outside all the time.  Well, almost all the time.  As I write the sun has gone in and I am warming my bones next to the fire.  But it has been a most "springy" kind of day.

Around the "Farm"

I used to love Farm Mama's "around the farm" posts...joining in was such fun; even if our farm is more like a family with raised beds and a few dogs, nothing I would really call a "farm", but I have dreams of so much more.  So here is a tour of what's been growing around here lately:

 Some of my favorite flowers are blooming right now.  I must say that I feel so proud every time a flower comes back to these little beds we started 7 years ago!

 The branches of the peach tree are heavy with fruit, honestly I probably should have thinned it more than I did, but I have such a hard time with thinning:(

 I've sort of made an attempt at a Three Sisters garden.  I love the idea and if we have some success this year I will work on refining it a bit for next year. 

 The pole beans I planted this year appear to be more of a runner bean...hmmm.

 I'm a bit puzzled by what I did or didn't do with the summer squash and zucchini this year.  I was careful not to plant too many as I'm really the only one in the house who eats them, but alas 1 lonely little guy.  Luckily my good friends at Dragonfly Farm have promised to supply me with plenty of zucchini.

Tomatoes are starting to ripen on the vine

 Cukes are being eaten quite happily.

And this week the best treat has been the raspberries!  I've frozen several quarts and yesterday managed to get the first batch of jam put by...

Home made jam is a hot commodity around here and we never seem to make it through the winter with what I can,  who knows maybe this will be the year. 
I have to admit that the weeds haven gotten a bit ahead of me this year, the broccoli was small (tasty, but small), the summer squash is bare,  I see a few small fruit on the butternut som I'm hopeful there.  Honestly I'm a bit of a casual willy-nilly gardener and don't stress too much about it, but this year has left me wondering if I don't need to pay just a bit more attention to beds...
How is your garden/farm/back porch?  I'd love to see!  If you want to join in feel free:)
~Angie