Unusually Warm Spring

I don't want to jinx it, but this spring has been awesome.  Typically, northwesterners suffer through a slug-ridden, bone-chilling damp May and June, while the rest of the country enjoys the onset of summer.  Not this year (at least so far).  Hooray!  The first two weeks of May have seen warmer and sunnier temperatures than ever recorded in Seattle.

Even the supposedly-cool weather loving vegetables like spinach and lettuce benefit hugely from the increased soil temperatures and extra doses of solar energy.  Honestly, it makes me jealous of gardeners who live in places that get this weather every single spring. 

Here's a photo time-line of one of my raised beds.  I started everything from seed directly in this bed:  peas in the back; arugula in the middle left;  spinach in the middle right, and lettuce up front.  The chives in the front right come back every year on their own.  I planted the seeds in mid- to late-March.

April 3, 2013

 

 April 3, 2013

 April 26, 2013

May 2, 2013

 

May 2, 2013

 May 11, 2013