Spring

flowering plum tree

3/1/11
     Ah, March 1.  Meteorological spring! The promise of more and more light every day and warmer temperatures.  I live for this time of the year .  It's finally warm today.  Can't quite thin my vegetable seedlings.  They are still too small.  I walked around the yard to check things out.  The purple flowering plum tree has blossoms, but nothing on the nectarine tree yet.  The orange and grapefruit trees are ok, but the lime tree is not looking good.  It has lost half its leaves from the 26 degree weather we had a few weeks ago.  I bundled it from top to bottom in old sheets and bungee cords.  But the wind was howling with 30 mph gusts.It tore the sheet open  and almost pulled them out from under the cords.  So I filled my jacket pocket with safety pins from my sewing box.  With frozen fingers I pinned the sheets from top to bottom and wrapped three bungee cords around each tree. I figured if that didn't hold, I didn't have another solution.  I'm sure professional growers have better solutions.  But I am an amateur, first-time citrus grower.  I barely got everything covered before nightfall.  But maybe that wasn't enough.