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Friday, May 04, 2012

Waiting for the soil to be ready

The trouble with living in Colorado is that our growing season is so short. And the weather so variable. Last month, we went from 80's to snow, back to warm, then cold again. Which means I have to continue waiting for the weather to be good enough to plant my garden.

For me, the hardest part about this weather is that on the days that we're approaching 70, I am sorely tempted to go out and plant my lovely little plants. In fact, on one of our 80 degree days, I did go to the garden center and buy a few plants. The next garden center had a big sign reminding us that the danger of last frost is not past until May 15th.

Waaa!!!

So my plants are sitting in my little red wagon. Every day, I wheel the wagon out to get sunlight, and at night, I wheel it back in. I still have a few more plants to buy, but for now, it makes me happy to see that I've gotten a start on my garden. And yes, for all of  my urban homesteading dreams, I still buy plants. I have terrible luck starting from seed because the light in our house is terrible, so my seedlings get leggy and don't transplant well. But hey, I am growing my own food, and it'll be really yummy come summer.

Even though I am impatient with the waiting, it is a nice reminder of all the seasons of life. There are so many projects I want to do RIGHT NOW, but it's not the right season. I could plant my tomatoes today, and they might be okay. Of course, my youngest was born during a May snowstorm, so my tomatoes might die. Which is a great reminder that even though I'm tempted to go for it, it's time to wait. I'm waiting on a lot of things in my life right now, so having this physical reminder of the necessity of waiting has been really good for me.

Is there anything you're waiting on for the right season? How do you deal with the temptation to plant prematurely?


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