#Snow, Snow, go away, come again another Day—like in November

Will this winter ever end? Most of the snow was gone—for the second time. This afternoon it began snowing, very gently at first, with barely visible flakes. Now the flakes have grown and they are coming down. Everything is already covered up again in a white blanket. And this is supposed to go on until tomorrow with high winds tomorrow. It’s a good thing I still have gasoline in the snow blower.

I know this is April 1, but this is not an April-fool’s joke. I wish it were.

I’ve been sort of busy already planning my garden. All the seeds in my containers, mostly peppers, have sprouted and I’ve moved them onto a shelf under a fluorescent light. I’m keeping the light close to the plants, because I don’t want them to become leggy. If they do become leggy, it is not a tragedy. Peppers are like tomato plants. You can bury the whole stem in the soil and let only the part with the leaves stick out. The buried part of the stem will develop roots.

I didn’t know that until only a few years ago. Every site tells you to plant them to the level they are in the pot when you buy them (or grow them yourself). In fact I read on one of the sites that you cannot bury the plants deeper than to that level. That is false. Because most of my home-grown pepper plants have always been leggy, I buried the stem deep and never had problems with that.

Keeping the light close to the plants so they don’t stretch toward the light and keeping them cool helps to stunt them. Also, either using a fan to blow air across them or just blowing across the plants a few times a day causes them to grow thicker stems. It simulates the wind outside.

Having a garden is a lot of work. You have to water the plants and you have to pick the weeds that always make an appearance, but it is also fun. Nothing better than picking your own sweet tomatoes, beets, beans, and peppers. Lettuce grown in the garden is pesticide-free and I don’t have to worry about maybe eating some kind of bacteria that will make me ill.

It also provides plenty of entertainment. You have to fight off the rabbits, deer, voles, mice, and other rodents. Birds also like to help themselves to certain vegetables.

Ants make their home n the garden to milk the aphids that invade your peppers. You become innovative and cunning, trying to fight off the unwelcome intruders into your paradise. There are hardly dull moments. But a garden also offers you pleasing things like watching the bees and small insects flitting from bloom to bloom for the nectar, in turn pollinating your plants. There are beautiful butterflies and their caterpillars. Sure, the caterpillars nibble on some of the plants, but that’s okay. I plant enough for them.

So all we need now is for it to stop snowing and for the snow to melt again. We need plenty of sunshine to dry the soil so I can get into my garden. I’m already looking forward to that. After all, the calendar says it is springtime. 

 Is it?