Hunting wildflowers in the lawn. Many tiny treasures to be found. Thyme-leaved speedwell has amazing blue to it; rock cress with tiny white blossoms; one flower that never grows big enough for me to ID it with a field guide; all the small beauties.... Oh, and violets, of course. We have white ones, blue ones, mixed.... And sometimes sorrel...

And in the woods, I love to watch ferns uncurl. We can't eat the fiddleheads down here, but back home? Yummy! I also hunt wild asparagus (does grow in patches) and delicate new wild edibles like lamb's quarter, mint, etc.

I also love to watch for where the foxes have their den. It's so cute when the kits come out and join the forest life. I watch from afar. Just fascinating.

I also love watching the annual fight for which bird gets to nest in the holly bush out front. It's a plush gig for a bird. Good cover, decent height, access to food and a birdbath (mine).... and no cat in the area has yet penetrated the bush's defenses.

Oooh, and soon it'll be mating season for the carpenter and masonry bees who invade next door. They *never* plug th eold holes right, so every year, we get five-six nests over there, and the males do the diving bomber dance of competition and defense.

I love spring, can ya tell!

Is this what you are calling, "thyme- leaved speedwell?"

http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=VESE

I have been calling it, "Chickbit" because it always follows the henbit. All the local pros I have asked call it, "weed." 'Tis good to have a botanical name for it.

Yup, watching all the plants bloom and/or come up is definitely intriguing.

I just love seeing things start to grow again... Everything is so bleak here in the cold months that just to see trees, grass and flowers come back really lift my spirits and then all of the little critters start to show themselves along with their wee ones... Spring is my favourite time of year

Those first few rays of warm sunshine as it hits your skin. The flowers waking up, poking their heads through the soil. Walks in the woods, watching nature wake up, grow, flower and blossom, and right into fall colours. This is my time of year now. My time to get out and enjoy mother nature at her best.

That's the stuff, Arfie. It's prolific in local lawns, it looks like little carpets of blue (because the leaves are mowed down below a certain height) and it's just lovely. The bees adore it.

Just back from a walk and we saw the first periwinkle blooms (it grows wild and domestic here).

There are no weeds in my world, only plants whose benefits aren't yet known. (One exception being ivy. I live in a brick house. Ivy and brick. Bad bad bad.)

Hmmmm.... can't wait for wild berry blossoms!

I am eating my overgrown yard. Cleavers and chickweed, nomnomnom.

I do an annual lymphatic cleanse with the cleaver that grows locally. I make a weekly tea infusion with it starting with its first sprouting - usually December - and on to the flowering stages. Mine is just beginning to flower now.

I love letting my cleaver mature without cutting it. Watching weed warrior reactions to it is part of the fun, but more importantly, all that dramatic height mushes down to a liquid fertilizer that leaves almost no bio-waste.

glad I'm not the only wild grazer (despite my avi, LOL).... I loved it a few years ago when we had a dandelion infestation---Dandelion greens for salads!

Yeah,w eed warriors are funny. They plant that crazy golf course grass that dies if you look at it funny, takes tons of water, blah...

arfie, we're setting up our first hives this spring :D

Our chickens lay way more eggs--one hen we named after Harry Potter's friend Hermonie (the clevest witch of her generation) who escapes and returns to the hen yard at will, has started a secret nest on the hillside....

The air seems to glitter with pollen, like fairy dust--luckily no allergies in my family, our live oaks have bloomed....

I miss the fox we would see when we lived east coast near a marsh....

I just love walking outside and taking in the nature. It's very calming. Thank goodness it's getting nice out again!

Leo, Every predator I have ever observed also grazes. Dogs, house cats, foxes, coyotes and wolves. Wouldn't surprise me a bit to learn that pumas also graze. Dandelions have driven me a little crazy. There are at least 250 varieties and not a single one of the recipes I have collected with them ever mention which variety works best. For sure, they are not all created equal.

Space Pony, Wanna trade some hives for some chickens? We expect a 5 to 8 hive increase this spring and are not quite sure what to do with them. On the other hand, hubs got 6 red chickens for his birthday in December. We lost three of them. The other three only recently started laying, but we are still only getting one egg a day. The three hens seem to be taking turns laying that one egg.

So glad to have a bee keeping report, arfie! It's something I never would have done. Never was on my radar. Having your reports about it, though, I 'm a vicarious bee keeping fan, now.

What's my favorite Spring thing? Having those first warms breezes on skin and through hair. After the kinds of winters we have where I live in the mountains, those are de---eee---licious.

Well, Arfie, I distinguish them from chicory and wild lettuces, so it could be that's part of the issue---they look a lot alike this time of year. (Chicory is not one of my faves as food, but I like the flowers---they're pretty!)

Anyway, a lto of the dandelion flavor depends upon habitat. the wilder the field in which it's gathered, and the earlier in the year the greens are collected. (Flowers aren't so fussy when making wine, not that I drink, but my grandmas both made dandelion wine.)

I prefer my dandelions to grow where clover, sorrel, wild oats grow. Back home, the ground water was on the hard side. Here, not so much. That may influence things too. We were no-pesticide users on the farm, as well. Can't grow good food in contaminated soil. (That's the polite version of the adage my Polish grandpa used, lol.)

Sorry, I get nutty about this stuff sometimes. Basically, look at the habitat of the dandelion and what else is there. Dandelions can grow any dang place, but what else grows there can tell you about the soil, its potential for being contaminated, etc. Happy soil makes for a bit less bitter dandy-leaves.

OK, shutting up now. Sorry!

Oh geez, I really rambled. Sooo sorry!

Lazy hens! Tell them their tenancy contract will be void if they keep this up. I'd give one of my cream leg bars. Prolific and sky blue eggs :)