"April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain."
T.S. Eliot’s quote from "The Wasteland" is a perfect rendering of our feelings when April rolls around. We are so grateful after the long winter to feel warmer air and spend more time outdoors in the spring sunshine, but patience is ever necessary, for the days swing back and forth between winter and summer.
Along the coast we are cooled in spring by the prevailing winds off the water, and it takes much longer for spring to arrive than it does inland. Nevertheless, outdoor sports are in full swing with shivering parents cheering their children and grandchildren on. The road races and marathons begin; track, soccer and baseball games are held with most of the weather still rather cold for spectators. Last spring local sports teams had to cancel so many games due to cold and rain. In April, spring training ends and the Major League Baseball season starts. For Red Sox fans who have tickets for seats in the sun at Fenway Park, it’s a plus.
It’s a busy time for farmers and home gardeners to ready their soil and to plant seeds of early cold-tolerant plants. This year I started lettuce, spinach and arugula in a homemade plastic
greenhouse in the kitchen window hoping to get some early greens. The basket of herbs, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme and chives that was on the picnic table all last summer and fall was kept in the kitchen to snip bits of herbs during the winter. It needs to be planted with new stock this year, but it was great to use the herbs and see the rosemary bloom while there was snow on the ground.
Last fall, I planted garlic cloves along the edge of the garden and I am hoping that I get an abundant supply in early summer. In the past, the garlic heads I’ve grown have been smaller in size but stronger in taste. Last summer, at the Farmer’s Market, I bought bok choy and liked it so much that I’m going to try it in the garden from seed. It added so much to stir fry with its slightly nutty taste. The pole beans that were new in the garden last summer are definitely a must. They were long and tender and grew very fast once they started to produce. Another favorite was a yellow cherry tomato that was so prolific and tasted like garden candy, though it was late as everyone’s tomatoes were last year. Both the beans and tomato were gifts and they were special.
Before I turn the soil over I take apart the compost bin and spread it on the garden, adding it to the seaweed that was raked in last fall. The seaweed along with the snow acts as a nourishing blanket and is sometimes called "poor man’s fertilizer." A compost pile is a good way to enrich the soil in the garden. It is made by layering fruit and veggie peelings, egg shells, coffee grounds, along with grass clippings, hay, seaweed, leaves and rainwater. Left in a container or a fenced-in area, it will break down and can be spread on the vegetable garden or flower beds to add nutrition for growing plants. A small container can be kept in the kitchen and emptied every day or so into the larger pile. No fat, meat or bones should be added as this will draw animals. It is one way of being more "green" in our everyday life; along with catching rainwater in a rain barrel for garden use it does make a difference in how much we conserve.
Another bonus to working outdoors in early spring is to see and hear the sounds of returning birds. It’s always so exciting to hear the call of the redwinged blackbird or the mourning dove that you haven’t heard since last year, or see the backyard robin pulling worms out of the ground and trying to build a hidden nest. On a warm sunny day in early spring there is a veritable chorus of happy sounding, busy birds that will cheer even the most hardened soul. These sweet reminders of a new season beginning let us know that lilacs will grow out of the dead land and there will be stirring of dull roots with spring rain.
