I got to thinking about that yesterday. You know, seeing the first Canadian geese arrive, the first Red-winged Blackbird, the first Trumpeter Swan, or the first pussy willows budding out. Hearing the first Spring Peepers or Woods Frogs. Seeing the first crocus, then daffodil noses popping up, the first day you can walk in the garden after the snow goes away, the first day you see rhubarb noses sticking up, all pink and pretty.
We really look forward to all of these firsts, and a whole lot more, come to think of it, and have for decades. Renewal, that’s what spring is all about. After a dreary, cold, snowy winter, the appearance of sound and color swells the heart. Such a good time!
On Friday, our friend, Brendan, brought in the two loads of our free swamp mats on his semi flat bed. We were a bit disappointed with the first load as most of it was chiefly firewood, being pallets that were broken, partly rotted, and sad looking. However, the second load was much better. So, Will has his building material. Shew, we were getting worried. There’s no picking your loads there. You get what they load. Period. All in all, we were very happy with our new stack of “material” for who-knows-what projects.
My little containers of petunias and pansies have germinated, and they are now in the little plastic greenhouse in our living room, nice and sunny. I’ll be planting my tomatoes soon. I went through our catalog and marked all the ones I plan on growing this year, all the favorites of customers and us too. We’ll be helping Lynn and Jesse, our new Seed Treasures folks, grow out some seeds, at least for a few years, to help them get a good start with the business. I’m looking forward to having more time to write and just plain homestead again. Happy Spring everyone! — Jackie
Spring sure is all about firsts! I have a list of “firsts” going back a long time and each year enter the date when they occur. It’s amazing how consistent those are. Right now all the area callery pears (wild Bradfords), redbuds, yellow Carolina Jessamine stringing through the trees and forsythia are blooming away. The early daffodils are already done blooming as are the peach and plum trees are done. Waiting on the dogwoods and azaleas.
I’ll be starting peppers in a few days and tomatoes in a couple of weeks. Eggplants are up. Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower plants have been planted, potatoes are planted and carrots sown; peas and turnips are up 3″. We’ve just had a streak of 80’s but come Tuesday and Wednesday will bring lows of 28 and 31 so I’ll have to cover some stuff.
Two weeks ago we lost our cat. At our age we’ve decided not to have another one so he was the last of a long line who found a home here. The good Lord saved the best for last so although the pain of his passing will lessen over time, we’ll live with the many fond memories.
We have about 100 red poles hanging around plus the usual ravens, grey jays and magpies but we had -25 last night so it’s not spring! Have fun.
I love seeing the firsts of spring as well. We have robins again, the geese have been flying over and the peepers have been singing in the creek. It has been really warm here, 80 day before yesterday. My rhubarb is peeking up which is not good as it is 18 this morning and is to be down to 8 above Sunday night. Winter does not want to give up. There were terrible storms around day before yesterday, but they split over us and we got only a sprinkle of rain. They did a lot of damage to the east of us with tornados and high winds. Such devastation. Spring is a terrible, wonderful mixture of weather. Great score on those building mats! Sending prayers for a blessed week.
Thank you so much! Yep, our weather’s been crazy too. It’s been up into the low 50’s but also down to zero. Now we’re waiting for a big storm, which was supposed to hit at 1 o’clock, but nothing so far. It’s like holding your breath. I’m glad you didn’t get the tornadoes and hail. That was horrible!!
Just checked the price of gas (petrol) here in Australia. Like yours we are a big country but we are paying per litre what would translate to roughly $8.40 per gal.
Ouch! I’ll bet that really hurts. Folks here are complaining about $3.09 right now, per gallon. It really hurts the farmers who provide food for the nation.
Your post is a moment of calm and promise in our turbulent world so Thank You Jackie . We are heading towards our tcolder months and processing our harvest is full on. I’m looking forward to a rest, but then I may have to tackle my biggest nightmare…..house cleaning !
Oh gee, HOUSE CLEANING. I’d rather clean toilets!! Processing the harvest is so fulfilling. I truly love it. I’ll be doing some potatoes as soon as I have time as we’ll be planting a new crop in a couple of months and I don’t want to lose such a bounty.
Wonderful spring. Windows open and air fresh smell in the house. But today we got storms, hale and tornado warnings. My Amish girlfriend planted 1,000 strawberry plants. Hope the hale does not get them. She has a 13-month-old son and a 4-week-old baby son and managed to plant all this. I feel so old and inadequate! The folks here are good friends and strong as oxen. LOL Remind me of you and Will!
Boy, I’m praying you folks don’t get hail especially after your friend planted 1,000 strawberry plants!! Wow, two in diapers. That’s a chore alright. I did cloth diapers and she may too. Whew, I sure washed a lot and bet she does too.
Wow! 2 loads- 1 building 1 firewood. Great. Pepper s have all sprouted but the greenhouse gets to 65 @ night, back to winter temperatures and rain/snow. So hopefully they be content with windows day a back to wood stove at night . A few flowers are popping up most of the asparagus is well on their way! So happy for this as wanting to expand asparagus bed over the next few years. So far my daffodil s are content. Snow level just missed us but not the ice on everything yesterday. Can’t wait for spring to Stay. So fun to read of everyone experience in your post- specially your responses back. Take care and happy tomato seeding . I’m going to wait till the greenhouse stays more even temperature
That’s why we start everything in the house; our LP heater doesn’t keep the greenhouse warm enough, steady enough, when it drops severely in temperature. I’m finished with peppers and next week, it’s on to tomatoes, although not so many as last year’s 235 plants. We’re due for a big storm tomorrow night through Friday. Maybe I’ll get some house cleaning done, huh?
We’re having t-storms and hail. At least the hail we got was not ping-pong ball sized. Better half threw some more straw on the garlic.
We’re on the never ending battle for invasive plants/brush (yeesh, garlic mustard has started to pop up). Better half cleared an area on our property last year. We planted some wildflower/native grass seed on it today. The restoration company showed up today and ground up a high percentage of the invasives on our property. They’ll be back for touch up. For the first time since moving here, I can see the field behind our property. I’m sure the deer love it and the clean-up has already removed a lot of cover for not welcome wildlife.
Spay day today (read not inexpensive but they are also micro-chipped). Once home both were pretty comical when they came out of their carriers. Of course both had to try to jump – I caught one but not the other. I’d hope the storms we’re getting would just make them go to bed. Hah not. I did put a couple of beds near the window seat so if they fell they’d have a softer landing. I had to laugh as one thought she could jump into the window seat but fell straight back (I caught her). I did not comment when one of the clinic employees said they’d be kind of out it for 3-4 days.
Evidently both were sweethearts today based on comments when we picked them up. They have helped lessen the hurt of the loss of our other cat last summer.
Time to till the garden so we can plant taters on Good Friday which is a little over 3 weeks away. Grandpa has yet to fail me when it comes to potato planting.
I’m glad your kittens’ spays went well. Yep, they’re kind of out of it for awhile. When we brought Hondo home after having the tumor on his back removed, he acted senile from the anesthetic. When I opened the car door and told him to load up, which he usually does immediately, with joy, he wandered off into our vet’s front yard, with us chasing him. Then he turned around and we got him in the car. By the time he was home, he was more “normal”.
Lucky you didn’t get the monster hail some folks did! Shocking!
Wow, in three weeks, we’ll be happy if we can see garden soil, let alone be able to plant in it, as it’ll be still frozen solid.
They said that when I got my Tom neutered. He got out of his cone while still in the cat carrier. And the pain medicine they gave him had him bouncing off the walls. I just gave up.he lived 15 years after that, so guess it didn’t hurt him.
I love seeing your pictures. Your place is beautiful. January is the month for pruning here in far north California. But, we had spring instead; instead of our coldest weather where the sap isn’t running. So I’m pruning our orchard now after February was back to winter! I didn’t want to have a garden this year because it performed so poorly last summer; just let to rest. But, hubby has tilled it with the skidloader forks. The weeds were 2 ft high. We’ve cleaned those out of half the garden. I’ll see if I really do anything. I’ve canned so much and still have it. Probably won’t need to can more for a few more years. Yes, it’s a hobby really!
Yes, canning is sort of a hobby. But when tough times pop up, you’re always so happy to have that food available. Gardening, too, is sort of a hobby, but for me, more of a passion. I can’t imagine NOT gardening. I couldn’t stand it. : )