Seriously. Who knew *sea slugs* were the living jewels of the oceans?

What weird, otherworldly looking creatures. At the same time, how exquisitely beautiful they are!

I am totally blown away by this dramatic image. Nature Is Amazing!

Closer to home, remember the frolicking frogs from three weeks ago? Guess what is in the pond now?

An absolutely massive floating island of frog eggs full of wriggling tadpoles! Each individual in the mass is in a clear gelatinous marble sized egg. Note: these are far more individuals than our tiny pond can support so I’ll be moving some up to the little pond in the Secret Garden.

Tonight is the full worm moon. In the past week we have seen the first cabbage moths, earthworms, and eastern-tailed blue butterfly! The red maples are a hazy pink with the end of their flowering & starting to leaf. Spicebush everywhere are covered with pea sized yellow puffballs, and our forsythia are in bloom!

According to the Farmer’s Almanac:

Plant peas when forsythias bloom.

Plant potatoes when the first dandelion blooms.

Plant corn when oak leaves are the size of a squirrel’s ear.

So that’s cool! I planted our potatoes on March 25th! I have sweet potato slips ready to go when the weather cooperates too. We weeded the Secret Garden and transplanted a ton of forsythia from there around the yard. Hopefully the rain overnight will get things a good start. Our spotted lungwort has just started showing color, and the old Virginia bluebells had buds ready to pop this week as well!

“When pussy willows emerge, maple syrup season draws to a close. Cabbage butterflies flitting about announce the spawning season for bass & sunfish. When forsythia bloom look for trillium, bloodroots & dutchmens breeches in the woods. When raspberries & roses develop fresh leaves know that bald eagle chicks are hatching.” Poor Wills Almanac

And indeed bloodroot is blooming like mad along the verges of our daily walk now!