Spring has finally arrived, and by next week it will be summer

I am always slower than a lot of folks about getting my garden in and, this year, I am really glad. The stuff I did have planted was not damaged by the frost at all, but I have friends and neighbors that weren’t so lucky. Asparagus was frozen, one neighbor told me. Another said his potatoes had gotten frosted back twice. Others had the majority of their gardens bit by the late frost.
So today I readied the beds for the squash and melons, and Rick spaded the tomato area. The weeds are horrible, but I am converting my gardens to what is called a “lasagna garden” this year, so most of the weeds will be covered with cardboard, leaves and hay mulch. It is a lot of work, but it should make gardening easier from now on. I will be putting my tomatoes in next week along with squash, melons and sunflowers. I will also be planting some parsley and other herbs in pots.
Part of yard work here is just cleaning up the mess that has accumulated over the winter. I am a bad one for just tossing boxes out the door with the intention to pick them up later. But later comes and they get buried by snow, only to reemerge wet, soggy and misshapen. I gathered a pile of them in the driveway this morning and burned them. Of course, anything that was shaped right went in the yard at the back of the house. While moving some other stuff around, I disturbed a water snake, which expressed its displeasure to me with a scowl before slithering off into the tall grass outside the yard. Later on, when a friend stopped by for some corn lily starts, she managed to grab a snakeskin in the lily bed — she jumped just a little.
I jumped far more than that while moving some barrels out at the chicken house: I lifted a lid that had been on the ground and found a four-foot bull snake coiled up under it. Now, I am not afraid of snakes, but they do startle me when they are where I don’t expect them to be. He was horribly offended that I had lifted the lid from his sauna — it was quite warm under that lid and I am sure he was enjoying that — and so, after making me think he might fake a strike at me, he headed the other way and went under the chicken house. The chicken house is riddled with mice, so I am sure he will grow big and strong this summer.  Forgive me for calling the snake “he,” I am not sure what sex it was, but “he” just fit.
The weather says that the next week will be warmer and dryer than usual, so get prepared for summer. We’ve just had our week of spring and it seems that is all that we are allowed this year.
I am sure it has a real name, but this is what it was always called when I was growing up —Combination Salad.

Combination Salad
- Cabbage
- Cauliflower
- Onion
- Green pepper
- Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Mayonnaise
Mix together the combination that you like. Use all, or just a few. My favorite is cucumber, tomato, and cauliflower. Chop all vegetables, mix in as much mayonnaise as you want. Add salt and pepper to taste. It will keep in the fridge for 4 or 5 days. I like to take out a serving, then mix salad shrimp or imitation crab meat in. Makes a wonderful light supper.