A sunny, warmish day today for turning under the rye and winter pea cover crop in the kitchen garden (photo (above) is how the cover crop appeared in the fall). First time I have really succeeded with winter cover. The soil was so friable because of the fine rye roots penetrate the soil. I'm very curious to see how it affects this year's vegetable crop.
Today I saw a street tree in the photo above blooming away with big male catkins and tiny female flowers peeking out of the twig ends. Nothing else is in bloom right now except snowdrops, a few early crocuses, the witchhazels. After consulting my tree ID books, I think this tree is a Turkish hazel (Corylus colurna: "Widely planted in parks and gardens, this hazel is also useful as a street tree.... Males and females [flowers] on the same plant, appearing before the leaves; males: in long, drooping, pale yellow catkins; females: small, budlike, with red stigmas." (Eyewitness Companions: Trees: 262).
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