February 11, 2010
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I admit it….
I am thinking of spring. It seems the only thing to do as the white stuff falls and falls and falls. Last summer I built a small garden late in the season and was still able to have handfuls of grape tomatoes and watch the sunflowers bloom. I also had a couple of eggplants and some sweet banana peppers for stuffing, a recipe I will perfect this year. I dream of doubling the little plot so that there can be a zucchini and some lettuce. More pots of herbs are planned for the patio. That will be fragrant and fun. Of course there is always the pot of marigolds. I am allowed to do whatever I want with the flower beds – ahhhh. So off with the layers and layers of mulch and on with new top soil. Maybe roses along the side where the sun pounds all day. A clematis to add some height in the front. I am not a gardener, really. Don’t know much about any of it even though I grew up on a farm. I prefer the indoor work.
I like the housework of spring. Really. I take pleasure in washing walls and changing curtains and bed spreads and inhaling a house full of the freshness of open windows and cleanliness. Please don’t misunderstand this as being a job I consider to be the sole purview of women. I don’t. I honestly LIKE housework. No, my friends, I am not for hire. Nonetheless, I dream of spring. I think much of this dreaming is the result of being cooped up with THE BACK and missing the movement and exercise, the physicality of the work – whether garden or house. I long for the mornings of dawn at 5 a.m. and walking the dogs without the encumbrance of jackets and boots and gloves and hats and heavy coats. Winter weighs so much. Spring is lighter, requiring more and less at the same time.
I remember the arrival of the seed catalogs when I was little. Even though I had not much interest, there was beauty and anticipation that arrived with Gurneys and Burpees and Jackson-Perkins. Indeed, I smiled when I was out shopping last week and saw the beginnings of spring in the racks of seeds in local stores. Maybe radishes? And onion sets? Hmmmm.
And so it goes.
Comments (4)
…and all of this snow will let the soil have a good rest. I’m hoping for a great planting season. (ok, I’m hoping to be home to actually be able to attend to my gardens) The winter indoor bulbs are finished, so I’ll move them out of the window and replace them with a long herb pot. The seeds are just waiting for me!
As for cleaning, not so good at it because I was so used to moving so often. (the big cleaning stuff that normal people call spring cleaning)
I think all of us are thinking about spring right now…
Totally understand about liking your own housework. And my god, spring?! I can barely picture it right now but I am with you in spirit!
Your spring vegetable plans make me very happy. I’ve had the most amazing tomatoes since I’ve been here, and I don’t even like tomatoes! Spring will come – eventually.