IT'S SPRING!!!! IT'S SPRING!!!! IT'S SPRING!!!! IT'S SPRING!!!! Well, maybe in a few months.

Every March when Spring is making attempts to break through Winter's cold blasts of air and icy grip of snow, my beloved wife goes on a “IT'S SPRING!!! IT'S SPRING!!! IT'S SPRING!!! IT'S SPRING!!! IT'S SPRING!!!” posting extravaganza on Facebook. It's her favorite season even though where we live it never really starts until May due to Winter retaining a hold. Nevertheless, it does not dampen her enthusiasm.

Given my subjectively successful gardening experience this past year, I am “chomping at the bit” for Spring to arrive. I'm not waiting until ‘real Spring’ arrives in May-ish; starting in March I'm bundling up and heading outside and doing something, anything, gardeny.

Gathering up small branches for garden posts and plant supports, getting on with building my hugel, perhaps building trellises for zukes, squashes and such... (found a zillion trellis ideas on Pinterest). Inside, begin my seed-starting under my grow lights.

Haven't even had much of a Winter yet (I count the beginning of Winter to be when the cold and snowy weather begins, NOT when the calendar or solstice say it does) and I'm already tired of it. The vegetable and herb garden is quiet and covered with scattered patches of snow. It looks sad. Gardens need growing things and bees and butterflies in them.  

Sigh.... Sometimes I wished I lived in warmer climes, even though I don't do humidity all that well... Maybe 2021 is the year I think about season-extending!!! Cold frames and whatever....!!!

I’m in the same spot!  A 46 degree day yesterday sent me out to clean up garden messes and plan for trellises.  This year I’m thinking of making them our of alder which we are overrun with.

Snow in spots, everything wet and dark.  Nothing singing but the chickadees. Come On Spring!

Janet Reed wrote:I’m in the same spot!  A 46 degree day yesterday sent me out to clean up garden messes and plan for trellises.  This year I’m thinking of making them our of alder which we are overrun with.

Snow in spots, everything wet and dark.  Nothing singing but the chickadees. Come On Spring!

So far, the only thing I've done is bury the compost I collect in coffee cans. It's fun going out there to pull open the gate and wander across the garden to pick a spot and dig a hole. I gaze out across all 350 sq ft (doubled in size from the 2020 season) and remember the fun times and wonder about next year's garden.

Absolutely not a winter person here, and we've already had more snow this year than we had all of last winter. I start back with gardening in March when I will start all my flower seeds and vegetable seeds in my greenhouse. This year to pass some time, and be able to do some kind of gardening, I have planted some lettuce, spinach and basil in my den using the Kratky Method of hydroponics. It is real easy with no running water or major equipment. It is helping me keep the faith in what looks like a bad winter to come.

While I am looking toward spring, i will take December and January over July and August .  Here in southern Illinois we are seeing 45 degree weather. That beats 95+ and humidity.

I'm posting this during my lunch break, we have mid 50's today (very high for here right now) and I'm finishing the yard stuff that didn't get done in the fall (due to freezing cold weather.) I'm expecting it to slam back down soon, our first freeze was in early Oct. This is a welcome aberration, I'm months behind on things.

I pulled some (dead now) weeds that have been on my list since June.... Kept seeing them growing, seeding all over, dying, finally got them out, really didn't want them to seed.... Ah well. At least their corpses are out.

I'm getting ready to take the tractor down the road to Denis's house, and load it up with the 2 trailers and scroll saw we bought from his kids, and take pics of all his tailors, boats, and stuff with their identifying numbers, so they can look up all the titles, tax info etc, to sell or junk them. It's perfect weather for climbing around a junk yard, lol

Today may be one of the last the last times for burying compost in the garden; I went out a few hours ago and it appears the ground is starting to freeze. I found some worms still wriggling around about 6 inches or so deep, but the surface was harder than last time.

Well, the shortest day is behind us anyway, that's a start.

10 C ( = 50 F) day here with a rare glimpse of sun in an otherwise fog-filled December. The bees have received their oxalic acid treatment on Monday so today they were able to do get outside a bit to get rid of the waste and then back to overwintering mode. I've planted some remaining trees I received from the Balkan ecology project in Bulgaria - the apricot Albena, peach Evmolpia and the special mulberry Kinriu. The bees, the dog and all the humans loved the sun

Yesterday,  we rode - and it was a glorious 60°F. Tomorrow, we will bundle up, just to take the pups out, to pee...

Carla Burke wrote: bundle up, just to... out, to pee...

That's like a first sign of Spring around my house, when I go out and do that to my compost pile! (Neighbors cannot see, we're secluded.)

IT'S GETTING CLOSER! I was going to start a new thread (it would help in my Scavenger Hunt; I'm currently a 'Pioneer' and need around 14 new threads to complete one task, but I figure that's 'cheating' when an existing thread will do ) 



There's about 4 or so feet of snow on the ground from a 30something inch dumping we received last weekend. I'm gazing longingly through a window at my snow-buried garden (chicken wire fence is covered in snow) and 'imagining' what it could look like in the upcoming warmer months.

I'm combating the swirling winter winds (they really sound like a 'howling') by delving into some books: “Permaculture for the rest of us” by Jenni Blackmore, “Your Edible Yard” by Crystal Stevens (which I won right here in a Permies giveaway!), “The Ultimate Guide to Soil” by Anna Hess, and “Carrots Love Tomatoes” by Louise Riotte.  

I wannagooutandgardennow I wannagooutandgardennow I wannagooutandgardennow.

I know right where I'm re-situating my compost heap. My expanded garden encompasses where it used to be, I'm just going to site it in a corner, using the same snow-fencing I've been using. It'll be easier to take compost from it throughout the year and side-dress my plants. I've never been so jazzed up about starting a compost heap.

Last year my raised beds lacked walls, I just raked up soil here and there and mounded thing; this year I may go exploring around and grab logs and see about using them rather than visit a lumber yard and get planks or beams. I'm log-hunting anyway for..... my hugel...

There's an old apple tree up front just beside the driveway; it has 'seen better days' but I may try and see about pruning it and giving it a new start and use it as a focal point for one of those 'food forest guilds' I read about and see on YouTube permie channels.

Just needed to get all that off my chest. You may now return to your normal Permies programming. Thank you!

2 weeks of record cold and snow, and today it was 54°F. I went out to see just how much of my peach tree will be left, when I'm done pruning (not much!)- though I won't do that until it gets its buds, so I can figure the best exact cuts to make. The chickens got to go out and free-range for 3 solid hours! I filled and finally got the tarp over the bucks' manger, so hopefully the little stink-wads won't be able to waste quite so much of it.

Tomorrow, it's supposed to be 61°F! I'm going to try to prune my oaks, so I can (harness the 20-something energy of my daughter and her friend, when they come to visit, this weekend, to) move the raised bed frames over, attach the arbors, line them with the old flannel blankets, and fill 'em up with soil & compost, to settle for a few weeks until...

PLANTING TIME!!!