Seasons Change

April 5, 2012

The first day of Spring has officially come and gone. It passed with little fanfare this year because it has felt like spring for quite some time now. The strange weather has been newsworthy in 2012 thus far as we have blown by record temperatures. I don’t know about you, but this has thrown our seasons off here at the 1900 farm.

Not in a bad way, I assure you, but in a way that has us all waiting for that time when Mother Nature will look back and say, “Hey I fooled you!” as she delivers an early April snow or a spring frost that would take the buds off the orchard trees.  Today I looked up and saw that the trees were blossoming already.  An early Spring frost would mean no new pears, cherries, or apples this year, and perhaps fewer pies on the farm. In Iowa, we are used to the changing seasons, we rely on them, as unpredictable as they may be.  There wasn’t a post last week because we have been busy taking advantage of some nice days on the farm. The gardens are prepared and potatoes will go in this week, as will peas and lettuce.  This puts us behind last year by about a week, but it seems like more as some Iowa gardeners already have potato plants and lettuce ready to cut because of the early spring.

I was able to start cabbage plants in the greenhouse like I said and I have lots of mini cabbages sprouting. This is a bit exciting when you think of what these small sprouts will become.

I wonder how early the apples and cherries will be this year with the trees already in full bloom.

The gardens hold the promise that Spring brings, I am anxious to get into them.

We have asparagus up already! I’ve seen it all around. You can pick it up at a local store as well and if you need a recipe try out this one: forced asparagus, that I talked about last year.

The hollyhocks that I started new last year are coming up nicely, the same can be said for the herbs, and our bleeding heart is in full bloom!

Let’s hope our last frost is over (which almanacs say can happen as late as the end of April here in Iowa). Enjoy the signs of Spring on the farm, and if you want to help us celebrate here at Living History Farms, come and join us in town for the Family Easter Party this Saturday morning 9am – 12pm.  Town buildings will be open, the baby chicks have arrived and will be ready to meet everyone, and the horses are ready to stretch their legs pulling wagons.

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Categories:

Changing Seasons   How Does Your Garden Grow?