Spring Is In the Air

Across the Fence #228

This week I heard the wonderful sound of geese calling to each other as I was out walking one day. I looked up and caught sight of them. They were headed north; a welcome sign that spring is in the air. I think most of us have had enough of winter for this year.

I also spotted my first Robin of the year during that same walk. It was nice to see him hopping about, stopping to listen with his head bent to the side, then moving to another spot. I stopped and watched for a while, not wanting to frighten him off. Eventually he must have "heard" a worm moving, and started pecking at the ground a couple of times before emerging with one in his beak. As I continued down Sherpe Road, the trees were alive with the sound of Robins. I counted over twenty of them singing to me as I stopped again to look around. This was no power walk to build up my heart rate. This was a walk to look, listen, smell, and experience the wonder of spring coming alive all around me.

I've got to admit, there's one smell that I don't care for; the smell of liquid manure coming alive with the first serious thaw in the spring. I never minded the "old-fashioned" manure smell, but the liquid variety is not my idea of the "sweet smell of spring."

One day I walked around our back forty and down by the pond. I was looking for deer tracks in the mud. There were none. Last spring a fawn was born in the trees next to our house, five deer frequented the fields and even our back yard all summer and fall. I haven't seen one deer since hunting season last fall. I wonder if the "kill a doe" before you can "kill a buck" system of hunting, along with two harsh winters in a row, has depleted the deer herd in many areas. I've talked to a lot of deer hunters who think the deer count is down because they haven't seen as many deer either. I'm still hoping to see deer in the fields again this spring. I'll keep you posted.

Another sign that spring is in the air is seeing the snow retreat farther and farther into the woods and making a last-ditch stand on the north-facing hills. For me, spring has finally arrived when the last holdout patch of dirty snow malts into the surrounding soil.

Spring is in the air when you start thinking about planting a garden. We were looking at seed packets in a store last week. There's something about looking at those packets that gives you a good feeling after a long winter. As I examined the many varieties of vegetables and flowers, my mind drifted back to the days when I was still in school. In FFA we sold seed as a fund-raising project. No friend of the family or relative was safe from a visit from us. My mother always bought a variety of seeds too.

We had a large garden east of the house. After Dad finished plowing and working the ground up, it was Ma who was in charge of the planting. I got to help. We used two broken tobacco lathes with a long string attached to make the rows straight. Then, depending on what we were planting, we dug small holes or long, shallow furrows about half an inch deep under the outstretched string. Each packet had directions on how thick to plant the seeds. Ma didn't look at the directions. She knew exactly how and where she wanted us to plant each vegetable. That was knowledge gained from many years of experience.

Potatoes from the previous year's harvest were brought up from the dark, damp cellar and cut up so each piece contained some "eyes." The eyes were the sprouts that would come alive and provide another crop of potatoes and the cycle of life would continue year after year.

Planting a garden was like a science to Ma and we followed her directions. When we were finished with a row, we covered the seed with soil and moved the stakes to the next row, leaving enough space between them to walk. At the end of each row, or where a new seed was started, we put a stick in the ground and slipped the empty packet over it so we'd know what we had planted in that row.

We planted carrots, tomatoes, string beans, peas, cucumbers, radishes, lettuce, cabbage, beets, potatoes, and many more that I've probably forgotten. We never planted sweet corn that I remember. We just plucked off some early ears of field corn. Some years we planted pumpkins too, but they seemed to invade the other parts of the garden.

I liked to wander into the garden once the vegetables started growing and pull an onion or radish from the ground, wipe off most of the dirt, and eat it. Those are still the best onions. I also loved to snap off the pea pods, pry them open, and pop the fresh peas into my mouth... straight from the garden. It doesn't get any better then that. Thoughts of spring bring back those memories.

Tonight as I sit here writing, the March wind is howling outside and rain is pelting against the windows. At least it isn't snow. Yes indeed, spring is definitely in the air!