Spring? Already?

Getting out in the (finally) sunshiny weather to do some homestead chores had me covering three full seasons today, and seeing some rather disquieting signs of a fourth. Bring in a 2-day (and night) supply of wood for the wood stove, because it’s still in the 30s at night and mornings are decidedly chilly. But days are in the high 50s to mid-60s, and absolutely glorious with the whiff of spring. Even as I finished (finally) harvesting beets and digging potatoes from last fall’s crops. Which didn’t manage to get harvested before the holidays descended upon me but weren’t in any real danger of destruction during what has been one of the mildest winters in all my 20 years here.

Basket and garden fork in hand, I wended my way to the bottom tiers from the bricked herb and rose garden below the grapes. Noticing how green the mints are, when they’re usually nothing but scraggly sticks in January. When they’re not under an accumulated couple of feet of snow. The thyme is brown, but the oregano has fresh green leaves low on the plants. The rosemary is still thick and green, thicker even than when I cut it down to nubs in November. Every single one of the sages is putting out leaves, including the potted sage I forgot to bring indoors to keep me company. The chives are still standing, and here’s new leaves on the parsley too. I’ve never seen that anywhere north of Florida.

Some of last season’s kales have put out new shoots too, and the greens on the beets (red though they are) are fresh enough for salad! Before the chickweed and purslane, even. Bunching onions planted in the fall are coming up in thick clumps, I’ll have to thin them out soon. Usually a job for mid-March. Even worse, the spring bulbs are all up several inches and threatening to bloom any minute.

So I’m thinking this might be one of those rare years when spring comes in February, when we-who-work-the-land least expect it. It’s actually happened a couple of times in those 20 years, where it never gets below freezing again even at night. Latest frost date in my zone is May 10th, so you can see how productive a 3-month start on the growing season could be. So instead of leisurely perusing my new seed catalogues by lamplight on howling and snowy winter nights, I’m now flipping through to early crops and scribbling order numbers as fast as I can. Hoping to be able to order and take delivery within the next 3 weeks.

Hmmm… have plenty of salad mix seeds from last year, since I only planted a single rush before Fukushima melted down and blew up and blanketed North America with radioactive iodine and cesium you simply cannot wash off or out of your green leafs. I left plastic and matting on more than half the terraces last spring and summer, unwilling to grow too much food I knew would be more contaminated than I’d want to feed my family. Even though my rusty Geiger-Muller was mostly back to background by mid-June except in the rain, I figured that leaving much of it fallow – either covered for delicate future crop beds or chock full of weeds to absorb deposited isotopes that didn’t get drained out – would be the best thing. With nearly a year’s worth of ample rainfall on my well-drained terraces, the ground is about as ‘decontaminated’ as it’s ever going to be again in my lifetime. Yours probably is too, but beware of drainage seeps and pathways. Contamination will tend to concentrate there, and you don’t really want to do anything about it. Which will just stir it up and spread it around. Better to go ahead and let the usual grass, weeds and other ground cover to colonize thickly (you can mow it), don’t plant anything in or nearby.

Also have plenty of peas, and those need to go in as soon as it’s not freezing at night. Actually, they could go in and simply be covered with jars and cut-off milk jugs for nights when it does get to freezing. I am definitely going to go with rushes this year – planted every 2 weeks for six weeks so there will be plenty. The grandkids love those peas raw so much that I almost never get enough into the kitchen to cook or put into salads. Grandsons end up with pockets bulging with pea pods they think I don’t notice… S’alright. Can think of much less healthy snack items they could be hoarding.

Must get some flats going in the library window asap. And start rolling up those many newspaper pots I’ve found so handy for seedlings through the years. Plant them right into the ground, they disintegrate to become ‘one with’ the tilth. Oh, and must get to raking leaves, which I also didn’t do in the fall due to contamination. If spring comes in February, the fires come right along with. Just won’t be enjoying the usual leaf compost of previous years. So much to think about, so much to plan, so much to do!

Is spring looking to come early on your homestead? If so, best get started soon on making the most of it.

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