Howdy,
March 1 – weather is warm – rain is scarce – the bush lupins & early wildflowers are blooming, and it’s hard not to want to plant something!
But it’s early days yet, and if all goes well, we’ll have another few storms–maybe even cold ones–before spring really settles in. I know this, I understand this, I even (sort of) hope for this, but—golly!–I do love these warm days and not-so-cold nights. I am a child of Southern California, after all, although it seems my family still living down there also do their share of complaining about the cold winter. It’s all relative; my family in the Midwest are happy when they have feet of snow and frigid. temperatures. Our little February “dusting” down here in the low elevation of Springville just makes them laugh.
What about that spring planting? I finally had “the tractor guy” – Joshua Lever (let me know if you need his contact info; he’s great) create our swale and berm and use some of the fill soil to move forward on creating a new raised planting area. If I get the retaining wall up, I’ll still have time this spring to put in some sages, penstemons, an Apricot mallow and wildflowers. Need to scrounge the bone yard at River Ridge for metal bits for the wall….
Always many projects to do, and too few hours in a day. But the days are getting longer, which is good for outside work, but as an early riser who does a lot of the office/computer work in the wee and dark hours of the morning, I also start to feel “pressured” to get outside that much earlier, before I’ve completed all I had planned to do. Soon, the hot days of summer will provide me with the middle-of-the-day break for this indoor work: too hot to work outside and so – no problem! It’s the transition season that throws me for a loop. I just want to do it all.
Ah, spring. Like the frenzy bees just emerging and hungry, I am ravenous for warm long days, warm soil to plant in, buds bursting into color and leaves unfolding on the Blue Oaks. Now that I have my swale, I’m also eager for another good storm. Bring it on!
Peyton