showers with a chance of snow
winter letting go into the first week of spring
This first week of spring in western Pennsylvania…
Sunday March 20
Spring Equinox. Lots of rain in the morning. I feel thankful I planted seeds last week during a few unseasonably warm and dry days as they're now being nourished with water moving into earth. Winter letting go for Spring emerging.
It's 41 F in the morning and I visit the cold water at the creek. I remember to lean back into the water - lean into the earth. For the first time I notice the tightening in my body along with the expansion that comes with my breath. Tightness and then expansion. I watched myself stay and then stay longer. It’s stinging cold but is the water warming slightly? I'm sure it is.
Monday March 21
I'm musing on new things for Forest & Flowers Retreat and I do my best thinking and decision making while walking in the woods, so to the trees I go. A woods hike followed by another cold dip. It feels like spring outside and the sun is shining. Rosemary and Spearmint essential oils seem like the perfect blend for the kitchen diffuser. I thank the cleansing energy for infusing my space and this new season.
Tuesday March 22
Starting seeds. I plant yarrow, feverfew, rudbeckia, statice, and strawflower. All new to me except a few. Experimenting and curious.
Wednesday March 23
I keep noticing I need to clean my windows. Anyone else? A new book arrives. The Regenerative Growers Guide to Garden Amendments: On Using Locally Sourced Materials to Make Mineral and Biological Extracts and Ferments. So many things to learn and brew. More seed sowing today for our vegetable garden and Forest & Flowers Retreat blooms. For the first time I notice how meditative dropping tiny seeds into soil blocks is (and how much music helps my patience). Hundreds of seeds in just a handful of small trays. Truly magic.
Thursday, March 24
Soaking anemones and ranunculus to pre-sprout later today. Another first for me. Just like "forcing the blooms" on the forsythia that's now brightening my kitchen table and the dull cloudy colors outside the window. Yellow blooms offering hope.
Friday, March 25
I install a fence around the tulips and daffodil bed. I’ll need it for the ranunculus and anemones going there soon too. In my observations so far, the deer don't nibble the daffodils (I've learned they have lycorine which makes them toxic). But this is my first year growing tulips and I think the deer do enjoy them, so I'm not taking any chances on the 50 or so precious bulbs I planted last fall… expecting blooms of deep purple (Queen of Night tulips) an early white variety (Global Desire Double) and a mixed array of yellow and white daffodils. Do you see them starting to pop?
May the flowers bloom where you are. Wishing you a lovely week ahead as winter lets go into spring.
