Wood be Winter or Spring

Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny, warm spring day and the smell of freshly split oak wood was in the air.

My husband has been buying wood for next winter, maybe for the next two winters. It seems likely that we won't use up all the stores of wood we have for this one. In the spring, we bought two cords of hedge wood. With this warm winter, we have hardly used any of it. Hedge burns too hot to just take the chill out of the air.

Yesterday I started transplanting the blackberries. First, I turned part of this blackberry tangle into blackberry stubble. I dug up only a small part of it and took the plants to the bottom of the hill, where we have a nice bed waiting for them. I would have done this in the fall, but it was so dry. It's still dry, but spring is coming, and I hope so are the spring rains. This project will take quite a while, though.

On Wednesday I picked a basketful of young Red Russian Kale that, after steaming, tastes like pure sugar. Oh so yummy. I also picked a large basketful of lettuce, almost but not quite cleaning out one of the two lettuce beds. Some of the Royal Oakleaf lettuce I harvested weeks ago is starting to grow back. I also planted spinach in both of the lettuce beds, hoping it will start growing sometime in the next month and give us an early spring crop. The arugula isn't big enough to harvest, but tiny leaves in the center of each plant are still green, a promise for spring...

If it isn't spring already. I keep expecting it to pop up around the corner. Very few of the winter projects I have planned have been done or even started. Ok, the garage got cleaned, finally. The problem is that the few winter projects I have completed or started require a lot of time, meaning only a few projects will get done. Oh well, maybe next winter.... right...

Well, I am almost ready to start planting again. I spent this morning online ordering seeds and have another list of seeds to purchase from local nurseries and stores, as soon as the seed racks are out. I spent one day this past week checking dates and moon signs and phases, then noting on a calendar the ideal times to start my seeds and plant things in the garden. I find planting by the moon signs a good way to schedule planting, but once I start planting outdoors, I often must abandon it. The weather interferes. Other activities interfere.

In spite of the spring-like weather, however, my mind is still in winter mode. No reason to start rushing about in the garden, yet. Save that for later. In the meantime, I take a few moments each day to drink in the golden winter light at sunset.