Old Man Winter Gave Me A Wedgie

04/04/2011 21:02

A few weeks ago I wrote about what the arrival of Spring means for us gardeners,especially us Northern gardeners who have suffered through a seemingly endless winter.Perhaps I had been a bit presumptuous in assuming Spring had arrived.Certainly the calender indicated that it had but as we gardeners know,the official arrival of Spring doesn't mean we can run outside and burst into a flury of planting activity.

In my area,the last few weeks since the arrival of Spring,has been a mixed bag as far as the weather goes.One day would be quite pleasant and I would be thinking that I can now get my radish seed,onion bulbs and peas planted but than Old Man Winter would come sneaking back,much in the manner of a school yard bully and give me a wedgie.His wedgies consist not of getting your underwear yanked up to your ears but rather;snow,freezing rain,ice pellets and anything else that twisted old man could think to torment me with.

One sunny day I managed to turn the vegetable garden over,work in some manure and add some compost I had slowly made.The soil was almost dry enough to make seed sowing possible but than it poured rain and the temperatures plummeted that night,freezing the soil solid again.My garden was all dressed up with no where to go.

Its been like this for days now and my frustration has reached its peak.I managed to survive winter and see Spring arrive only to have my attempts to get out there and start planting thwarted time and time again.I have taken to the bottle and have begun mumbling to myself.People cross the street to avoid me when they see me coming.I'm not crazy!I'm just a man who can't get his gardening fix and I need it bad.

Oh sure,I've managed to do a little gardening.I've pruned some shrubs and even transplanted some ferns into the fern garden I'm making this year but for me the gardening season has not truly begun until I get the vegetable garden started.I love all gardening but I'm passionate about vegetable gardening.I can reap what I sow or eat what I grow as it were.For the frugal minded,a vegetable garden can pay for itself several times over.Of course if one counts asthetics as a reward,than all gardening pays for itself but there's just something oh so satisfying about being able to appreciate a plant not just for its beauty but also for its taste.

I'll talk more about my love of the vegetable garden later but first I need to get one in the ground.That's of course if Old Man Winter is finished with his fun and games.

Right now my soil is once again muck that one could make some nice mud pies with but it's not exactly conducive to seed planting.My peas for example,would probably just rot in such a soil.It's too cold and wet for most of them to germinate successfully.

However,a late start,will not necessarily make for a later than normal harvest.The rate of seed grmination is largely dependent on soil temperature.By time I get things going,the soil should be warm enough for fairly fast germination.Early seeding or late,things will even out in the end.No,it's not that that's driving me to distraction;it's the waiting game.I managed to make it to Spring and by God I want to get my hands into the soil and start planting.

Well,it's up to that cranky old man and it doesn't look good.Freezing rain in the forecast.

Old Man Winter just gave me another wedgie.