February 13, 2011
I planted seeds today. Outside. In two of my three gardens. It’s not even March yet. It’s barely the middle of February, a fact my inner sense of what’s done and not in a garden can hardly reconcile with today’s 50 degree temperature. Planting seeds in a February garden is a gamble (it may get bitterly cold again, it may snow some more), but honestly, hardly. The packets of radish, spinach, and sugar snap peas each cost a couple bucks and I didn’t even plant half the radish or spinach seeds. At most I put $4 on the line today, a tiny scrap of value next to the thrill of being outside again with my hands in good, rich garden soil, pulling weeds, agitating soil, making furrows, dropping in seeds, covering them up; setting the stage once again for new life.
Seeds planted in furrows (in Jones) before being covered with soil
And besides, the instructions on the back of each seed packet said very clearly to plant “as soon as the ground can be worked.” Today I easily worked the crumbly, black soil. So what was I waiting for? Continue reading
