Turning of Seasons

Although the calendar says that Spring arrived weeks ago and the clocks changed to confirm that the dark days of winter are over, the warmer months are still just awakening.

For me, the change of seasons are signaled twice a year. Once when the rains and frost come to put my garden to sleep and little bits of fabric and quilt designs infiltrate my dreams. The second time when the idea of sewing strips of cotton together sounds like a chore and I begin to pursue seed catalogs late into the night.

I made my last Dark Days of winter SOLE food challenge this week and am truly grateful to SPUD for sponsoring this weekly organic meals every week from November to April. I looked forward every Tuesday to the delivery of root vegetables, leafy greens, apples and pears, organic milk, fresh pasta, meats and cheese that fed me through the winter.

butternut squash ravioli with kale raab and blue cheese

This week I made it out to the garden to plant more seeds and set up my Gro-Therm plastic to coax the seedlings out a bit sooner. I used the Gro-Therm last year from Territorial Seed and found that it warmed the soil by 2 to 10 degrees, depending on the amount of sunshine. The perforations kept things from overheating and drying out on hot days.

gro-them over arches

Of course, I can't fail to mention my son, who is a natural farmer and loved our time in the garden. I am so grateful, because if he didn't enjoy it, I don't know how I would be able to spend so much time growing food this year. He has his only miniature tools and insists on carrying the seed basket himself.

what a hard worker!