Listening to the Weeds

It's a slow, cold spring. Garden fever bit, I planted my brassica starts about a month ago, I think it was. They're sitting out there, growing roots, but not doing much else. I protect them from the slugs with that pet-friendly iron-based bait, Sluggo. The slugs took a hit from the cold, but they're growing fast. My ragged daffodils tell me it's time to watch for slugs in the beds.

I'm holding off on planting more. I have some carrots in, a short row, a couple of rows of cut-and-come greens for early salads. But I plant by the weeds. We have the first, hardy weeds that come up in late February, early March. They're supplanted later by the weed species that like warmer soil. That's when the garden takes off. But right now, those early varieties are just sitting there, growing slowly. Very slowly. Nice for the weeding schedule, but means I'm not rushing stuff into the soil. Now I'm high here, about 700 feet, so lower, sheltered microclimes are probably warmer than I am right now. The pasture is growing, but we need a week or so of warmer temperatures to get the chill out of the soil and wake up the seeds that need higher germination temperatures. Meanwhile, the slugs and I are duking it out.