Is It Spring Fever Or Just Another COVID Variant?
Photo Courtesy Of McKenzie
As I am writing this, in the waning few days of February, spring is distinctly in the air. The peach trees are in bloom. On our northeast Tennessee homestead, they are one of the first trees to awaken from their winter slumber. New growth is emerging from the depths of the soil. It’s an exciting time.
But… Experience has taught us that it is unlikely that we have experienced the last of the winter. We typically get at least one taste of the spring weather before we get pimp slapped back into the reality that winter is still very much upon us. So, we enjoy the break while it’s here and we wait for the other shoe to drop.
This is the time of year for planning on the homestead. It’s also a time for reflection. We have gradually improved in our homesteading skills over the years, but more than anything else, I believe that biggest improvement that we have made is that we are finally mastering the art of setting more realistic expectations. Hold up. Mastering may be too strong of a word. Let’s just say that we acknowledge that it is an area that we need to improve on and we are working on it. Work in progress.
Winter seems to create a bit of a delirium. I believe that it is partly due to the pent up energy generated by the seasonal decrease in activity and the shorter days. It makes us feel ready to take on the world and leads to some grandiose expectations for the upcoming growing season.
By early January we start getting in the new seed and poultry catalogs and the imagination just runs wild. Ambitious planting schedules. Crop rotations. Soil improvements. Weeding. Watering. Harvest schedules. Accounting for crop failures. When we were first getting started, we would wildly over shoot every time. I mean, we would sit down on the floor and be surrounded by thousands of seed packets. We became collectors. We are still working through the tail end of the seed collection 10 years later, but we’re getting there. It’s all about the journey, right?
Clyde’s Garden Planner
There are numerous resources available to help with planning out your planting schedule. Clyde’s Garden Planner is one that we have used for years. It’s a simple and inexpensive roadmap. Link up and listen to the Old Timers where you live. They can be amazing resources and can share signs and strategies that you just can’t find in books. Sometimes the scientific proof of their effectiveness can be non-existent, but the fellowship and learning the traditions has value apart from its effectiveness. Carl Sagan once said “Absence of evidence does not mean evidence of absence.’ Put another way, just because you can’t prove something, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t true or that there isn’t some truth in it.
So, we are eagerly looking forward to this new year and are striving not to over do it. Too much… Wish us luck.
How do you plan your garden?
Are there signs that may seem odd to others that you swear by?
Photo Courtesy Of McKenzie
