Wow! It's been a while since my last post...
Sometimes it's nice to step away from the computer, put the camera down and just live life's moments with a little more presence.
And then there's the warming weather and coming spring, which call us out, out, outside, to play, swing, climb and explore.
I cannot remember a February this warm since I've lived in the San Luis Valley. During the winter months I often get asked if I miss the garden; if I'm just waiting impatiently for the winter to be over so I can get back to growing food again. My answer often surprises people: not really. I adore summer and growing food for my family and my community. I love fall with it's garden bounty harvest and beauty. I relish winter for the rest and rejuvenation the season brings. And when spring comes, I embrace it with renewed enthusiasm for gardening and growing...but not until the time comes. No, I appreciate the snuggly, slow days of winter (even more now), and I'm in no hurry for them to be over...and then it happens. The light returns, days lengthen, we go outside without our warm winter layers, mud from melting snow oozes everywhere, and those first brave bits of green begin to peek out from sheltered places.
This is the first awakening of spring (for me at least). It's playful...reassuring. Our freezing valley nights will prevent gardening from beginning in earnest for another couple of months, cold snowy days will creep up sending us back inside, the restful time is not quite over, and we welcome the warmth and light back with excitement for what is to come.
When February's warm spell first appeared, I thought, oh, this will pass soon, no reason to go getting spring fever. And then it just got warmer, and though we still have our cold valley nights, the days this past month have been amazing. One day a couple of weeks ago I said, "that's it, I'm planting the greenhouse." I could no longer resist the temptation to get out and plant. Just like the warmth, the urge to "come out of my winter shell" came quicker this year, but I'm not fighting it.
So, I pulled on my rubber boots to wade through the mud, and the littles and I went outside to play in the garden. We did a little spring cleaning, and even a little planting.
And now, in these first days of March, we have little seedlings, emerging from the warm soil in the greenhouse.
I have the two best helpers in the world. The garden calls to them as well, and has become the focus of much outside play and work (they're really the same thing, right?).
The chickens are certainly glad that the snow has melted, and also spend much of their time in the garden, pecking through last year's stalks and seeds.
Given the coming warmth and awakening, it seemed like a good time to get outside with our friends for co-op day to plant some seeds and enjoy the sunshine. You can hardly keep these little ones inside these days anyway (not that we want to). Our inside time consisted of preparing a yummy snack of fruit and seed bars, a brief circle time with one of my favorite rhymes (below) and one of my favorite books, The Story of the Root Children.
This rhyme is fun for the children to act out, starting as seeds tucked into bed and "sprouting" at the end.
"Sweet baby seed so small and round
Time to rest deep underground.
Under the earth you safely hide,
Stay there now, don't peak outside.
I've dug a wee hole and I've put you to sleep,
but soon your leaves will come up and your roots will grow deep!"
Then it was outside to play and plant. Soil was mixed, pots were filled, seeds planted.
I brought out some of the sunflower heads Melissa stashed in the greenhouse last fall and the children picked out the seeds. Oh, and this was after that moment when I was searching the box of seed packets for sunflower seeds until realization struck that we had all the sunflower seeds we could ever need just a few feet away, still on the last years heads... Winter does leave us a little hazy sometimes.
And when you get tired of planting seeds, there's always pot stacking...
After a beautiful time outside we came back in to eat the snack we prepared together earlier and have our closing circle.
Spring, I welcome you, whenever you come, in all your layered, trickster ways.