Seeds and Snow

February is the time of year when gardeners everywhere are scouring seed catalogs and getting ready to start the process of planting those individual seeds into cells tucked under lights and kept warm and watered until they are ready for the garden.

This winter and it’s 76.9″ of snow so far on the ground has kicked my butt. Yesterday, we cleared 7″ and were extremely grateful that we didn’t get the forecasted 12-18″. Seven inches means one clean up and two hours outside in the cold while 12-18″ means two or three.

My reality is that I’m helping clear snow every two days or so and coping with cold temperatures like right now of -4 degrees with a wind chill of -14. And, we won’t even talk about when all that snow comes off the barn roof and has to be moved.  🙂

Although my spirit is willing, I just can’t bring myself to think about dragging all the equipment out to start seedlings in an area where I can’t get the temperature above the mid 50’s.

So, I’m going to break tradition and buy the plants I want this year. And, I’m okay with that.

There is a local farm, Stout Oak Farm, Brentwood, NH, that specializes in organic plants. They offer 33 tomato varieties, eggplants, peppers, cucumbers, squash, greens, onions, leaks, herbs, and flowers all grown in their heated greenhouses. ‘Heated’ is the operative word here. Last year, I purchased a couple of tomato and pepper plants that were big, lush, and produced all season.

So today, I’m going to dream about gardening, complete my order form, and look forward to picking up my plants once the snow melts and the soil warms up. I’m not sure when snow piles reaching to rooftops will melt, but I’m sure looking forward to it.  🙂