Signs of Spring

It takes spring a while to reach us here in the northeast corner of our country and there are some definite indicators that warmer weather is around the corner here in Maine. Being a very early riser, I am thrilled when the sun begins to rise earlier than I. The other morning I looked east and noticed a bright band of brightness backlighting the trees as the morning coffee gurgled. On an early drive shortly thereafter, my nose tingled with that familiar pungent odor of skunk newly out of hibernation and probably surprised that I too was up and about. Driving by a local lake, I spied a bit of clear water around the edge of square miles of ice. The days are definitely longer and the sun is definitely higher in the sky.

Our neighbor has tapped his maple trees and spring sap collection has begun. The billowing steam cloud out of his sugar house will come soon once enough sap has been collected and we always look forward to visiting him on Maine Maple Sunday for fresh maple syrup served over vanilla ice cream. The seeds for our garden arrived a few weeks ago and the onions, peppers and eggplants have been started in our bedroom window once again.

Winter for us can seem like it lasts forever but every year our four dramatic seasons make it seem like there is always something different right around the corner. With the advent of spring comes renewed hope as we look forward to the changes that come with the season.

Our summer garden is something we all look forward to. The kids especially love pulling and eating fresh carrots. Jeff loves tomatoes and Cathy eggplant. One of our favorite summer dishes is fresh yellow squash and onions, tossed in olive oil and herbs and cooked on the grill in a grilling basket. We have always had some sort of a garden everywhere we have lived. When we lived in the city, we had small pocket gardens in the sunniest locations of our yard. We only had room for a few things then but food tastes so much better when you grow it yourself. With all the negative press associated with the foods we consume, it somehow feels better to know that some of what we eat comes from the untainted soil in our own backyard.

We buy the seeds for our family garden from a local company (Fedco Seeds) that won't compromise on the integrity of the seed they sell. They don't advertise and they don't have nice glossy photos but the descriptions of the products are enough and the seeds are very reasonably priced. Every year, we try some new varieties and don't reorder the ones that don't do well. We try seeds for at least two years as our summer climate can vary to a great degree. Gardening is one of those things that involves trial and error, luck and fate. You know, kind of like life. But one thing is constant. Every year, we get fresh veggies to eat from the garden and that makes all the work involved worthwhile.

For the last two years (coinciding with the downturn in the economy), seed sales have skyrocketed. So, if you are one of those folks beginning to till the soil in your backyard, don't give up after one or two seasons! Keep trying, keep learning and keep growing! And, if you are looking for a wonderful and practical gift to share with a gardening friend, check out one of our Gardener's Gift Baskets. They are a great way to give someone a variety of things a gardener will need to invest in anyway and the items in these baskets have been incorporated based on years of personal gardening experience.