Longing for spring but enjoying the winter

The weather report shows temperatures in the high 60’s for next week and I rejoice — but I try not to get too excited. I know this is one of those false spring moments. Gardeners and Farmers know what I mean. It’s that time in winter when the weather warms up enough to evoke a need to start planting seeds. One feels the warm sun on their skin and longs for the smell of fresh dirt and green, delicate sprigs of new growth.

 

Is this Spring Fever? It could be. It’s too early, though. The seeds must stay in their packets for some time longer. In this climate, it seems it’s too early to even start them indoors. The waiting is a difficult task for I, myself, am a transplant from another climate. In Tennessee I would have started seeds indoors already and would now be waiting for tiny shoots of green to show themselves. I’ve read that Maine is different though. We won’t expect to start anything indoors until at least March (if not April).

 

So, instead of getting swept up in Spring Fever, we’ll go out and enjoy the short days of warmth and sun. Maybe visit Acadia before it gets busy again with spring and summer tourists. We’ll keep the skis and snowshoes out though. I’m sure we’ll have use of them again before the real end of winter.

Jennifer Jelliff-Russell

About Jennifer Jelliff-Russell

Jennifer is an employment specialist and writer with novels in women’s fiction and science fiction. She and her husband, Jason, decided to move from Tennessee to Maine and homestead using the most environmentally sound farming practices possible such as organic farming and permaculture. At the same time, they will also be slowly renovating their 1900s Maine farmhouse in order to make it more self-sufficient with the eventual goal of going off grid. Let the homesteading (mis)adventures begin!