It's a bit of a rough time to be in Vermont right now, if there were ever such a thing: the buds are-- wait, what buds?-- we'll keep it real simple. The snow is gone. Gone down low, at least, and we'll just not mention the shaded zones. After a spot of rain overnight, the lawn turned GREEN. The redwing blackbirds are back with all their glorious cacophany of trill, outer-space noises, or at least on sunny days. There were peepers, too, first in Rupert down on the rail-trail heading to West Pawlet on Sunday, and then Monday night here, up higher, at home. Sleeping happened with the windows open on Monday night for the first time-- granted, they're sealed up tight again tonight (overnight lows in the twenties)-- but I'll happily take that bit of fresh night as it comes.
And, changes are happening. Spring has definitely made her presence known to us, tease that she is, and the past few sunny days allowed me to get into the field and rototill the whole whopping half-acre. My winter rye cover crop barely made it, I think due to the freezing cold temps of early last winter, without snow cover to insulate, which was a bit disapppointing. The upshot is that it's far less intensive work on the tiller to work the soil/green mass back in. I even got to work in a bunch of rotted horse manure and greensand... and prepped a beautiful, tilthy seedbed for 120' of Sugar Snap and Oregon Giant Snow Peas. I feel like I'm already counting down the 68 days from emergence, waiting for the crisp sweetness of those earthy peas. Yes!
More progress is being made, in my typical do-it-yourself, small-scale fashion: this year's big addition is an unheated, caterpillar-style hoophouse to be built in the field. I'm very much looking forward to shelter for the storm of spring for seedling starts, as well as a boost for what has in the past been a boon for tomatoes... especially for an estimated cost of $325 for about 440 square feet of coverage. I'm waiting for materials to arrive, more details to come soon, I am sure. Inspiration for the tunnel was provided by Growing For Market, some fresh-to-me gorgeous Califone tunes with lots of aching pedal-steel, as well as
http://www.uvm.edu/sustainableagriculture/hightunnels.html for some thoughtful considerations and interesting case studies.
Scallions and parsely and some volunteer Siberian kale are working their way back, hanging in there, and I've seen fresh sprigs and sprouts from the yarrow, helenium, monarda, gold coin, sage, and salad burnet. I'm still holding my breath to see if if the thyme, oregano, and lavender made it through the winter.
Next up: more planning to help get the wedding flowers up and organized, drawing wildly on the lovely
http://www.floretflowers.blogspot.com/ for inspiration, and... starting seeds! Finally!
I hope spring is springing wherever you are, and that the contagion of hope is flowing, milk and honey, vivid and bright! Cheers!