Essentially an Ode to Spring (And Gardening)

This is a picture of the second year I gardened. That green stuff is cheat grass. Isn't that garden so perfect looking, though? I don't remember that girl who did it much. This year it definitely doesn't look like that, but then, four years back, I could spend all day every day weeding.

“It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want—oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!”

-Mark Twain

          Spring is my favorite time of the year. I pretend I'm torn between Autumn and Spring, even adding Winter in for good measure, but Spring has my heart. I live in an area where each season is distinct. True, Autumn may not carry with it the brilliant colors you might find on the East Coast, but it still has its charm. Yet, I can't help thinking of Autumn without melancholy as I think of the first frost turning my garden to a mess of lifeless piles of green and the days of grayness before the first snow. Winter turns the landscape into a magical wonderland, but the long afternoons caught inside a house full of drafts saddens my soul. I'll give my two-pence on Summer, even though it doesn't have a chance in the running for my favorite.

          We have a dry and wet season here in the middle of Washington State (*please note that this area is not the reason Washington state is called the Evergreen state*). When Summer comes around, everything goes dormant. Like way dormant. Like everything is brown, including the lawn if one isn't on top of things (I'm in charge of that. You can't imagine how stressful it is. My socializing consists of threatening trees, bushes, flowers, and stocks of grass not to die on me). Also, confession: I don't much like the heat (imagine a whole lot of sun and not so much shade). The only reason I don't quit Summer entirely is because the heat and sun grows my garden. At the end of the day, every season revolves around my garden.

           Which is why Spring is my favorite. When you live somewhere for a long time, you start noticing how different one year is from another (weather-wise. Also something one who gardens pays more attention to). This year, for instance, we had snow covering the ground till early March. A typical year will have snow for one month from December to January. The snow will melt in the first week of January. There will be one day in late January where the sun shines, and you mistake it for Spring (however, you won't be totally wrong. The first wildflower comes out then). Then there will be a lot of mud and gray days. Mid-February the yellow bells start showing up. Then the wild violets and the Grass widows. And then the cheatland (obnoxious foreign weed that has utterly taken over) is alive.

           This year all the wildflowers have arrived in a flood. Because of all the moisture (I think), they are abundantly everywhere. They have grown larger and lasted longer. I have this feeling inside that I somehow have to appreciate every single flower because who else will? Spring is the time of year when I am keenly aware of nature. Of God. Of the absolute beauty everywhere. Sometimes I can hardly believe the multitude of wildflowers out there were planted by God just because it pleased Him. So many people don't stop to admire them. So many people don't even know they exist, but I do. Sometimes I imagine God planted them right out there in my backyard for my pleasure. How lucky am I? I'm overwhelmed by the uniqueness of each flower. All the colors. I think that's why I garden - in some small and imperfect way, I'm echoing what I see around me. With my human hands, I try to copy the masterpiece of a Supreme Artist whose work is ingenious but effortless.

           And Spring makes me come alive again. I want to run along the worn paths between flowers (trust me - running isn't a thing I normally want to do), dance, or sing at the top of my lungs because there is simply no way I can hold the joy inside without exploding. And then there's the Spring dirt. I don't know why, but there's something about Spring dirt (It's beautiful! I know, it's a bit weird to call dirt beautiful, but it just is. If you don't understand, I can't explain it) that makes me want to get something planted in it as soon as possible.

           This year, I planted peas in March when the snow on the very edge of my garden melted away, but usually it's mid-February when I can't resist the call to be outside. Things are going slow (but so has this whole year. Again, weather-wise), but I've planted Peas, Radishes, Carrots, Walla Walla Sweet Onions, Red Onions, White Onions, Potatoes (purple, blue, red, and yellow!), Kale, Bok Choi, Lettuce, Beets, Spinach, Turnips, and Swiss Chard. It sounds a lot more impressive than it actually is. Really, the only thing you know that's growing from just a glance is Dandelions. My garden is being taken over by Dandelions. I'm so torn on this. They suck all the nutrients out of my earth, but the bees also love them a lot. Last year my actual planted vegetables suffered for the sake of the bees - I just couldn't pull out all the volunteer Bachelor Buttons or Cosmos.

         

           Next Sunday I'll be back to posting an end of the month catch-up full of pictures (mostly flowers) taken in April. What are your favorite parts of Spring? Have you done any gardening? Is there anybody out there who loves dirt as much as I do?