Entering the Thaw (Between Snow Storms)

It was not without a great deal of trepidation that I titled this post! As I sit cuddled up with Ming the Bombay Brat and my warm laptop, the wind is gusting over the house like a mischievous Norse god revving up his seasonal engines and the temperature is hovering right around the freezing point. Punxsatawney Phil may have forecasted an early break in our frigid weather, but Spring's a brazen tease. Are these the signs of Winter giving way to Spring, or a brief interlude as another ice storm carves a path towards NEPA. By the end of the work week, it has been foretold that we will begin to hear the telltale echoes as the Susquehanna iceberg begins to crack under duress of actual sunlight (!) and the cliffs drop sheets of ice onto the road. Thus spoke Doppler Radar.

I wrote that blip late Monday night and never got around to finishing the post because I fell asleep, as is my way after working all day. Doppler was right, BTW. The river current broke through its ice crust early in the week, shattering the thick river ice into tons of smaller chunks and restarting the rolling progress downstream. Much of the snow has melted, raising the creeks and turning the once-frozen ground into patches of squishy mud and semi-solid turf. Earlier this evening, Don was outside adding coffee grounds to the compost pail when he thought he heard a growling sound. It turned out to be ice falling off the cliffs. The best bit? The tulip and daffodil bulbs have sprouted! Even the wild onions are peeking around defrosted leaves.

Unfortunately, Winter isn't going to go away without a fight this year. The forecast calls for highs in the 40s later this week, but that may be accompanied by freezing rain. Only minutes ago, I discovered Doppler had unveiled a sneaky nightmare on the way. There is an anticipated 4-6 inches of snowfall tonight, reaching up to 10 inches by afternoon tomorrow. I may love Winter and all the snow it brings with it, but we're almost into March and that means it's time to make the transition to Spring. This snow storm may very well be Winter's last hurrah.

I'm going to ignore this snow storm and focus on preparations for more mild temperatures. There are two seed orders already on the way from Pinetree Seeds and Jung Seeds. Here's a look of some of the finds to enter our gardens this year:

Jung Seed:
Hilda Romano Pole Beans (60 days) - Stringless 10-12 inch beans on 5-7 foot long vines
Jung's Eggplant Mix (60 days) - lavender, green, purple and pink in varying shapes and sizes
Oregon Giant Snow Peas (65 days) - Stringless 5 inch pods

Pinetree Seeds:
Ophelia Eggplant (F1 hybrid 50 days) - 2 oz deep purple fruit grown in clusters
Dinosaur Kale (53 days heirloom) - also known as Lacinato
Chenopodium Epazote - Mexican herb essential in traditional dishes
Kaleidoscope Sweet Pepper Mix - a mixture of white-skinned Diamond (78 days), Orange Sun (81 day), Purple Beauty (71 day), Big Red (75 day) and Chocolate Beauty (74 day)
Red Garnet Amaranth (55 days) - red leaves for salads and seeds can be ground into a GF flour
Kennebec Potatoes 2.5 LBS - mid-season potato
Irish Cobbler Potatoes 2.5 LBS - early season potato

A new landscape item was also tossed in - a Black Lace Sambucus. I've been wanting one of these for a while and it should make a nice contrast with our dwarf Japanese maples. Don also likes the berries and we both appreciate the purple-black foliage.

We've been eagerly picking up packets of seeds whenever we spot a clump of them at Walmart or Lowe's. Don purchased the usual suspects for his garden - a mixture of Delicious and Beefsteak tomatoes, Alaska peas, Danvers carrots, Cherokee yellow wax beans, and Kentucky Wonder and Contender green beans for his campaign wire trellises. When the mercury hit 50F here last Wednesday, I had to get my hands on some fresh seeds immediately, as well. I left Walmart with three packets of cucumber seeds (Carolina hybrid - 50 day pickler, Muncher - 45 day slicer and Sumter - 56 day pickler), Nantes carrots, Italian salad leaves blend, French Breakfast Radish and 4 types of peppers (California Wonder - 70 day sweet pepper, Rellanos ancho hybrid- 65 day, Jalapeño - 72 day and Hungarian Hot Yellow Wax - 65 day). I also picked up some catnip seeds for Mingster, French dwarf Marigolds to keep Bunny Fu Fu out of the garden and Swiss Giant pansies to brighten up flowerpots on the front porch. Then today we had to go to Lowe's for a new doorknob (because Don locked himself out of the downstairs bathroom). I couldn't resist standing in such close proximity of seeds without picking up a packet of Dwarf Blue Curled Vates Kale and a packet of Asian long zi beans (stringless yard long beans for stirfries).

Naturally, we already have some seeds started! Three are three different types of leeks, some red geraniums and a tray of microgreens which have sprouted and shall soon be yielding early Spring surprises. Expect photos soon of our baby plants!