Oh, the barnyard is busy, in a regular tizzy,
And the obvious reason, is because of the season.
Ma Nature’s lyrical, with her yearly miracle
Spring, Spring, Spring! (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers)
The World is very old;
But year by year
It groweth new again
When buds appear.
The World is very old,
And sometimes sad;
But when the daisies come
The World is glad.
The World is very old;
But every Spring
It groweth young again,
And fairies sing.
-Spring Magic by Cicely Mary Barker
Ahhh, spring is in the air at last, when everything is fresh and new.
Now we can finally lower our shoulders that were hunched against the cold and wind, and instead feel the warmth of the sun on our faces and back.
We can drink in the delicious scent of spring rains, the first flowers and the wonderfully scented cottonwood leaves. And of course, one of the first signs of spring are the stinkbugs that seem to come out of every nook and cranny of our house.
I had neighbours in Armstrong that built a log house and every spring was the grand hatch from the bugs that found all those great places to lay their eggs in the checks in the logs, and their windows were black with them trying to get out. Yuck.
It’s a wonderful time of the year when springtime is in the air and I can’t imagine the amount of energy that’s released with everything pushing its way up through the soil and the leaves, and flowers bursting out everywhere. It’s such a delight to see the newly born calves, lambs and foals frolicking around the pastures, and to watch the migrating birds arrive. It’s such a hubbub of activity, with everything coming to life at once!
I came back from the Coast at Easter to discover that a robin had made her nest and laid an egg in it right by my front door. It’s impossible not to disturb her, so what am I going to do now?
Spring is the time to shift into gear and get your cheeks off the chesterfield in order to prepare for the season. For us, it’s switching tires, hanging up the clothesline, trading winter boots for gumboots and parkas for pullovers, picking up the tools and water bottles that were buried in the snow, flinging open the doors and windows to air out the house, washing windows, putting in the door and window screens, oiling up the machines and sharpening blades and tools, hauling out the deck furniture and garden ornaments, preparing flower pots, flipping the compost, cleaning up work zones, washing down sundecks and sweeping off the leaf and twig tiddybits off the sidewalks and rock walls, fixing whatever got trashed over the winter like my poor old rail fence and cleaning up the yard and garden beds and taking advantage of the free dump.
And there’s one more thing that’s new this spring too: I am pleased to announce my new blog, gaiagardening.ca, which is still a work in progress, but so far has all my previous columns, photos and additional information to read and share all you like.
Cheers to another great year of gardening everyone.