First whole day of spring. Recovering from a brutal cold, I went out when the sun was well up and the frost gone from the soil. The ground that I worked last week was black and fine, warmed by a week of sun and a gentle rain.

No sign of the peas planted on Sunday, so I poked about at the beginning of the row. I turned up a pea all swollen and green just splitting open and sending out its root. I tucked it back in the ground.

In the prepared bed I planted two types of spinach, Bordeaux and Viroflay; mache Gala, a white bunching onion for scallions and a Treviso type of radicchio. After planting I covered the entire area with a doubled piece of remay.

I planted another patch of peas, this time in a double row. These are a later and taller variety called Oregon Sugar Pod. I will wait a few weeks to put up the pea trellis so that it doesn't create any more shade than necessary. I planted the double row closer than recommended, closer to one foot than two, in order to leave plenty of room in the rest of the bed. I will thin the peas and use the thinnings as pea shoots in my spring salads. As the peas begin to age I will plant cucumbers among them, so the trellis remains useful.

I weeded last year's mache and am curious to see how the spring sown plants do in comparison. Where the mache et al was planted I left the very center of the bed clear. I hope to put out very early tomatoes in that row, with a bit of plastic over them to see if I can manage a tomato crop by July 15. I need to check my records, but I think that's when I got my first tomato last year. But it was only one, the rest of the crop was two-three weeks later.

Inside I have started leeks (3 types) and shallots, bok choy, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. I also started an early tomato variety and several types of lettuce. I will plant more lettuce and tomatoes this week