The tulips and irises are up, not flowering but their clusters of leaves are inches above the ground. Daffodils, dandelions, henbit and crocus are blooming. The apple trees and willows have leaves, the peach trees are about to bloom. Clover is growing in the back field. The tips of the maple and peach trees are red, buds about to burst. The chickens are laying and the roosters are starting to fight between the fence that separates their yards. Bees, mosquitos and flies cover the front porch in view of the setting western sky.
It’s warm. It’s been warm. It looks like spring, it feels like spring. My mind thinks it’s spring and wants to plant the garden. Who knows, another cold front might not show up again until October, although one usually does before spring truly wins over. Worse yet, another polar vortex could get pushed down by all that warm air hanging out in the wrong places and send an artic freeze over everything. But still, it is kind of spring.
We have pots of seedlings in every window, of every kind. Tomatoes, petunias, peppers, broccoli and celery. Shallow tubs of sprouting sweet potatoes crowd the back sliding glass door.
While I don’t know what kind of crazy fights spring and winter might get into over the next month and a half, I know this much, when it gets here for sure, I won’t be ready. I never am. It’s like a chaotic Christmas morning with too many presents… every year.
We have our garden design drawings, our seeds are organized. We even go for these little, what if we put (fill in the blank) over here? walks at least twice a week. The truth is, we’ll be so excited to put anything anywhere, we’ll make some of the same mistakes we always do. Last year we planted corn too far from the house and water. We grew too many cherry tomatoes and not enough canning tomatoes. I planted a patch of wildflowers in the middle of the yard where our grandson’s tiny swimming pool sat too long. I’m still hearing about this, in my defense, the grass was dead there so why not? It was a bad idea, but the flowers were beautiful.
We do learn from our growing mistakes, and most of them don’t get repeated. This year, we’ll make new mistakes, and we’ll learn from them too. It’s okay. That’s how it works.
Never quit learning, even the hard way. Never quit trying, you’ll get something delicious, local, and healthy out of it.
Happy Spring! Now get those seeds in order and get ready to grow!!
Audrey L Elder                                                                                                           Fourteen Acre Wood