Last Fall, we dumped wheelbarrow loads of donkey manure and soil into my new garden beds, one a year old, the other spanking new and never before used.

A week ago, I planted a score of onions in the beds, mostly to aerate the soil (their roots run deep) and because I am keen on seeing something grow in those beds. And we can use the onions in our new diets and stir-frys.

I have a lot of bulbs and seeds to plant, but I have to wait almost until Memorial Day.

It’s too early to plant seeds or bulbs up here; I suspect we will see snow more than once before Spring settles in. And frosts at night almost up to June.

I’ve been watering the onions every day, and they are shooting up already, green and reaching for the sky. Onions can survive cold, and their roots can go a long way down, so I’m putting my bulbs next to them.

Since last year, I’ve learned a lot, and I’ve been collecting beautiful flower seeds and bulbs all winter.

We have too many, so I’m donating those I’m not using to the Mansion for their garden.

This is a sweet moment; it consecrates and launches two garden beds. I can’t wait to start handing out flowers all over the place.

Maria has her seven gardens, and I have my two.  We love gardening together.

I won’t have enough for the Mansion, but I think I can keep our farmhouse in b beautiful flowers almost all of the summer.

I’m interested in seeing what an excellent fertilizer donkey manure is once again. We put some in the vegetable garden last year, and we had vegetable stems and sunflowers 10 feet high.