Could it be??

                    Spring is here and just look at my garden grow!

Haha! Gotcha!
I know most of you are way too smart to actually think that this was my garden. I'll give 98% of you the benefit of the doubt, but for the other 2%...the thought that you were green with envy over my supposed green thumb(even if it was for 3 milliseconds only) brings a smile to my face.
But seriously...this IS blooming in my garden now:

Lots of tulips and little purple flowers popping out of the ground...which is actually really a big surprise because I did not plant any bulbs last year. Thank you previous owners! Maybe this will negate the fact you left moldy cat poop in the basement. Oh yah..I was supposed to forget about that...oops.

This the mess I cleaned up out of the frontyard gardens so far:

 Last week was so nice I couldn't resist getting out to prune my rosebushes. I've now learned that this is not really a job high on the list of fun things to do in the garden. It would have probably helped if I used long handle shears like suggested...not as many scratches and thorn pricks maybe? oh well...they look much better now and hopefully they still grow and bloom this summer. I used a youtube video on how to prune rosebushes..the guy looked like he knew what he was talking about at least!
Before:

After:

Every gardener needs a pair of rubber boots, right? Well...I have not yet acquired these so off I went in search of rubber boots and found these:

Value Village. $12. Italian leather Gommus boots? Yes, please :)

In the Garden

If you're living in Southwestern Ontario you'll know what I'm talking about here. We had a few nice days of spring..we all got our spring jackets out, rubber boots, bikes and strollers and for some people..maybe a few gardending tools? and then...WHAM! A snow dump. Seriously!? Of course, we should be all use to this now..snow can come in March, April or even May if we're lucky. I think it's just harder to take once we've experienced the mild, sunny spring weather. Thankfully, I haven't had to go out into the snowy cold weather, just hibernating in here till it melts I think. (Missed my morning walk so far and..Jonah can walk home the 15K from school this aft, right?) I'm living vicariously through my kids whom I insist on sending outside to experience some fresh air and 'the last snowfall'. and...oh look...there's Caleb trying to scooter through the snow covered sidewalk.
If you didn't go as far as digging around in the dirt, maybe you were thinking about the garden. I'm thinking about my vegetable garden this year. This is the first year I am actually getting serious about a garden, so my experience is very limited. After reading  The Backyard Homestead I seem to have a 'go big or go home' attitude about this, but really, the realisation is that if I don't take it easy,  I'm going to be kicking myself once August comes around and pulling my hair out instead of the weeds!
So far, my list of veggies to grow includes celery, onions, peppers, tomatoes, kale, beans, potatoes, carrots, cucumber, lettuce and watermelon. We would also like to possibly try strawberries and perhaps a raspberry or blueberry patch.
Delving further into the 'The Backyard Homestead' is all about livestock, making your own beer and wine, etc..and this is where Dave is suddenly interested! Seriously though, chickens may be in the future...just gotta figure out a way past the no chicken bylaw..hmm...

I decided to try and grow some from seed.Why not? Looks easy enough. I've read books, gardening blogs,any possible pamphlet about gardening and asked a ton of questions to some experienced seed growers and I'm sure I've done it all wrong STILL! Onions, celery and peppers need to be seeded mid-March:

So far, after 7 days my onions started growing...yay! No sign of life from the celery and peppers, but the package states they germinate anywhere from 10-20 days, so I will practice my patience and hopefully I didn't screw it up! I mean..how hard should it be? dirt, seed, water and sun, right?

Hey..if you got any advice...I'll take it. We can barter.Your advice for some onions?