Spring at last (or at least dandelions and earthworms)

by June

For months now, it’s been me by the fire with only the consolation of my favorite garden-erotica, a.k.a. the Fedco seed catalog. No matter how deep the snow is outside, it’s hard to feel too miserable when you’re tucked up with a catalog that replaces colorful photos with colorful writing. For example, see hybrid carrot YaYa’s entry: “You might say we almost got caught with our Nantes down when we lost Nantes Fancy, long one of our five most popular varieties. Instead, we’ve found a new, albeit more expensive, way to get our ya-yas out.”

Now, with spring officially here, my garden is still a foot under snow. But Fedco has come through for me again. My seeds arrived in a hefty little box spilling over with promise. I sat in the sun on the back porch and explored the bounty. Nothing stirs the soul of a winter-sore gardener like shaking a packet and hearing the rattle or shush-shush-shush of seeds: these are the very maracas of spring.

Lucky me, the raised-bed flower garden by the porch was first to emerge from its frozen mantle. It showed all the neglect from last fall when I was busy canning the harvest and let the dandelions run wild. So I levered up long roots and greeted the earthworms returning to the warm surface of the earth. I touched the little frills of delphinium and hairy fans of hollyhocks. This week, I'll scatter some poppy seeds, which can take the spring snow squalls, and soon enough...