The Briar Philosopher - The Winters of Spring (Free Access)

Today is the last day of March so Spring officially arrived 10 days or so ago. The warm temperature and the rain have everything popping up and budding. Our native plum tree collection is in full bloom and the apple trees are starting to bud. Blueberry bushes are beginning to bloom and I saw green leaves starting to unfold on our elderberry bushes on the way out the driveway this morning. This marks the beginning of my favorite time of year and my favorite kind of work. I love seeing everything wake up at the end of a long winter. It gives me new energy and my aching muscles will soon heal into stronger muscles, giving me new strength to accomplish the chores at hand. 

I saw tiny seedlings emerging in my lettuce and spinach bed this morning that brought to mind the coming “winters” so I’ll have to be mindful of forecasts in case I need to cover them for a night or two. I have the plastic at hand to do so and it won’t be a big chore if it comes to that. According to the redbuds, it may well be coming to that soon. They are almost in full bloom and that usually heralds the coming of the first winter of spring, aptly called Redbud Winter. A quick check of the forecast calls for possible frost in the middle of next week, so I’ll be ready. As a general rule I don’t plant any tender seedings until after Blackberry winter, which will come after Dogwood winter. Usually by the middle or end of April all the winters have done their wintering and one can pretty much count on the weather being good enough to trust young plants to the night air. But there’s plenty work to do before that. 

This Saturday just passed, the Boy and I did some spraying in the orchard. Last year a touch of brown rot got into the trees and we have to get rid of that  before the trees bud out completely. Not using any high powered chemistry, just a touch of sulphur water sprayed on the trees. Will reapply before the next rain comes. Some of the trees are quite tall now and a ladder is required to reach the very top branches so up the ladder I went with a sprayer on my shoulder. The Boy spotted the ladder from the ground as he isn’t the biggest fan of  heights. Yesterday I cleaned out the old flower bed in front of the house and seeded the new section that I added last fall by covering it in about 6 inches of grass clippings. Eventually I hope to expand it all the way across the front yard and perhaps even terrace it down the hill. The bees and the butterflies always love it and so do we. Today I am one sore farmer, but that goes with the territory, especially in the Spring. 

As I mentioned before, I love this kind of work. As the days go by I can feel my strength returning as muscles replace the accumulated fat of winter. Thanks to the rain I will absolutely have to mow this week. I managed the highest bits a bit over a week ago and I’m glad of that. They won’t be so unmanageable this time. From the forecast it looks like tomorrow and Wednesday evenings may be my only chance before those April showers start back up. 

The coming winters of spring will act to give me a break before I break all my muscles at once but I do so welcome the work and the weather of this season. 

As we all know, the Springs of our lives often have their own winters. We’ll be going along with some new chapter in our lives, a new love, a new child, a new job or home and there will suddenly be a cold spell; arguments, teething, problematic coworkers, unexpected repairs. These things can bring a chill to an otherwise warm and growing season. The problem is that we too often see these little setbacks as a warning of doom. Our negativity bias comes into play and we suddenly doubt that we’ve made the right choice; Did we choose the right person? Are we really cut out to be a parent? Can we stay in this new job we were so excited about? Will this house ever be the home we thought it would be? We must learn not to let these little winters chill us to the bone and cause us to sabotage our choices. The cool spells are a part of growing and, even with plants and sore muscles, are necessary for our continued growth. Give it a while and you may well find out that you just need a rest and some time to think and put it all into perspective. There will always be disagreements, hard times, unexpected obstacles. Those are as much a part of life as joy and peace. We just need to not allow them to color our whole perspective. We work through them or rest through them but we get through them, by and large. The sunshine and warm breezes, the laughter and wonder return and we go on. It is an illusion that there will ever be constant joy and perfection in any endeavor. The bumps on this washboard road of life and the cold spells in our growing seasons are just that, bumps and cold spells. There will always be wild roses along that washboard road and there will always be the buds of new things setting fruit during those cold spells.