Sparks in the Soil

Welcome Back, Green

Hello, my verdant old friend.  My rods and cones have been starved for you!

But now you're finally roaring back, in the cover crop that's fixing nitrogen in my soil, the rosemary that hopefully will green back to life...

...the strawberry patch that's starting to wake up...

 

...the lettuce seedlings that are poking through the soil...

...and the leaflings on the spirea bush!

 

Also, welcome back yellow!  You're invited to this party as well.

 

 

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Rain on Me

Four days of rain seems like nothing compared to last June's miserable soak-fest, but the deluge we've just gotten here in the Boston area shows that when the rain comes, we should, at least sometimes, hide our heads.  From this:

Yes, that's water gurgling into our basement (cruelly, on the other side of the basement from the fancy sump pump the previous owners had installed).  Every towel and blanket within reach was recruited to (mildly fruitless) sandbag duty:

The worms were all, "hey, guys, is it cold in here?"

But, like all storms, this one too has passed.  And this morning, I am reminded that hope does indeed spring eternal:

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A Bouquet of Spring Garden Quotes

I have loved Victoria Magazine for many years.  Even though it's gotten very "Southern Lady-ish" lately (it changed ownership a few years back), I am always drawn in, relaxed, and inspired by the glowing photography and crisp articles about tea, gardens, women entrepreneurs, travel, and heirlooms.

Another thing I love is the sprinkling of quotes that they tuck into the nooks and crannies of the magazine.  In their new issue (March/April 2010), there are several that have me thinking this whole "winter" thing might actually come to an end:

"But each spring...a gardening instinct, sure as the sap rising in the trees, stirs within us. We look about and decide to tame another little bit of ground." --Lewis Gantt

"No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden." --Thomas Jefferson

"A flower's appeal is in its contradictions--so delicate in form yet strong in fragrance, so small in size yet big in beauty, so short in life yet long on effect." --Adabella Radici

"'Tis my faith that every flower enjoys the air it breathes!" --William Wordsworth

And this quote, which I'll hold onto in case winter lingers a bit longer....

"There ought to be Gardens for all Months in the year, in which, severally, things of Beauty may be then in season." --Sir Francis Bacon

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Who's Out There?

The blanket of snow we've gotten lately was really magical to look at out our back windows--it highlighted the pleasing rectangle that is our backyard, and it had that perfect smoothness that only comes from undisturbed fresh snow.

Over the past two days, though, something has been frolicking on that perfect smoothness, and it's no one I know!  Witness:

and

It's kind of exciting to imagine woodland creatures hip-hopping around our home, very Snow White or Bambi (sans hunter....).  Anyone want to take a gander at who's leaving the tracks?  I think the top left set is from a bird, and I'm thinking bunny for the bigger prints.  I'm stymied by the thin line in the second picture, though.  Mice on cross-country skis?

Meanwhile, um, woodland creatures?  If you could make a mental note to not feast on my garden next spring, that'd be suuuuper.  Thanks.

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Happy Bird Day!

Today is National Bird Day, it turns out, and though I wonder why they put such a celebration in the middle of winter, I suppose it's always a good day to think about birds.

Here at our new house, the birds seem different from those we heard at our condo, just a mile away.  This is probably due to the fact that we now live close to a large pond, with the accompanying trees and wildlife.  I have heard what sounds like a hawk or eagle cry many times, mixed in with the more familiar winter blue jay's call.

But if I'm being honest, the love of birds is a bit of a balancing act for me at the moment.  Because, you see, I'm planning to plant a mini-orchard of fruit trees this spring, plus maybe some strawberries and (my dream) high-bush blueberries.  And if I don't play my cards right, the birds will get all the fruits of my labors (sorry).

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with the birds getting some of the bounty, but I have plans for pies and jam and out-of-hand snacking.  So what's a girl to do?

I've pulled together a preliminary list of techniques for keeping birds off of fruit trees, to file away for this summer:

• Put netting over the whole tree.
• Hang CDs from the branches--birds don't like the sun-flashing
• Hang plastic owls around the trees
• Share--birds don't like low-hanging fruit, so let 'em have the tippy top of the trees

That's for another day, though. Today, we celebrate the bird and all its sing-song-y, bug-eat-y, nest built-y glory!  Happy Bird Day to you.

(image via: http://www.livescience.com)

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5 Symbolic Facts About Ladybugs

1.  Ladybugs are believed to be totems of good luck--especially if one lands on you.

2.  They are symbols of protection because their signature red shells protect them from predators and shield their delicate wings from the elements.

3.  Some believe that the number of spots on a ladybug's back correspond with the number of months that will pass before your wish for true love comes true.

4.  The ladybug got her name in the Middle Ages, when Catholic farmers' crops were saved by the aphid-eating red beauties.  The farmers prayed to "Our Lady," and starting calling the bugs the "Beetles of Our Lady."

5. In a Danish nursery rhyme, a ladybug (called mariehøne or "Mary's hen") is asked to fly heavenword and bring back fairer weather.

Why am I sharing these fun facts with you today, you might (sensibly) ask?  Because it's 68 degrees, my windows are open, and when I opened my front door just now, I saw dozens and dozens of scarlet dots all across the entrance to my home.  What luck!

 

For more on ladybug facts and symbols, click here and here.

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Fall Foliage: Change in a Slow Instant

"Change in a slow instant" is the best way I can think to describe the fall.  On the one hand, it seems like one morning we just wake up to radical change--blaze-colored leaves, green lushness gone the way of our summer tomatoes.  On the other hand, if we are watching for it, we get to see the change from balmy green-scented air to crisp yellow-red-orange leaves unfurl gradually.

This morning I took a walk around my neighborhood, with the challenge to see if I could watch carefully enough to notice the "slow" part of the "slow instant."  The photos I took tell the story of the simultaneity (a word!) of the season:

Red and green, for a few precious moments of the season, live within the same leaf.  The beautiful departure of chlorophyll, happening before our very eyes.

The fall color spectrum seems to roll out from the center core of the tree. Green fades to yellow, which awakens to red on its way down.

The flame-tipped green leaves signal the process.

A blazing tree stands amidst lush green ones, each species letting go of its leaves in its own time.

The sun flirts with its namesake color in this fully-transformed tree.

The lovely arch of these naked branches remind us that the next slow instant is when we move out of fall and into the bare-branched winter.  But that's a story for another day.

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