Today is the first day of spring. But don’t tell that to Mike Eisenga. As far as the avid Manteca gardener is concerned, that day was Monday.

The sun was actually hot, and the weather crept up to 82 degrees in Manteca — the highest reading so far in 2019. On Tuesday the high peaked at 75 degrees.

As for today — the first day of spring — the National Weather Service is calling for a high of 64 degrees with some rain that could even include thunder storms.

“Monday was a good day for the first day of spring,” he chuckled as he spent part of mostly cloudy Tuesday helping his good friend David Singleterry spray the weeds along his driveway in rural south Manteca.

“I weeded. I sprayed. I took off the dead limbs of the palm trees,” Eisenga said enumerating some of the chores he tackled at his own property the day before.

Removing the palms’ old fronds is an important garden ritual every year, he pointed out, to make sure you make space for new ones.

On West Ripon Road between the incorporated cities of Manteca and Ripon, Alfonso Ayala and Jose Garcia Hinojosa were busy in a newly planted walnut orchard installing drip irrigation tubing along the rows of young trees. The walnut spread stands out in an area where almond orchards dominate the agricultural scene.

And while the almond trees have shed all of their fragrant snow-white blossoms save for a sprinkling of the late varieties, the peach and nectarine fruit trees of Kuil Farms at the south end of Frederick Avenue off West Ripon Road are still in their peak bloom. The delicate pink flowers can be glimpsed from southbound Highway 99.

This visual treat won’t last long though. You have just a few days to enjoy this visual treat.

As for the weather, Tuesday night light rain returned. Rain is in the forecast off and on for the next seven days with the high dropping down to 61 by Friday before rebounding to 70 degrees for the weekend.