Apples once again.  As the years pass, the garden and little orchard keep fulfilling their missions.  I share the bounty with the birds and the bees, the deer, jays, raccoons and my human family, too.  Blessings abound.

Garden cleanup in January

Spring on the calendar is over 2 months away, but here the catkins are in full bloom on the hazelnut trees and daffodil tips are emerging from the earth below.  

The day was so lovely with sunshine and soft breezes that I spent 5 hours outdoors in my shirtsleeves, weeding the paths in the raised garden area and doing minor pruning of suckers shooting up around various trees and bushes.  

Out in the far corner of the yard I found a bloom of fungi climbing the plum tree's north-facing trunk.

It's too early to plant, but there's great satisfaction
in zen-raking the pea-travelled paths to a smooth and untrammeled surface.