It's hard to think of summer here as the worst cold spell of winter is just starting and it is snowing heavily as I type.

The first sign of spring for me is when the nice, thick, fresh asparagus from points south arrive in stores in late February at under $2 a lb. and we eat fresh asparagus a few times a week and I pickle around 20 lbs.. My asparagus beds won't start producing until April so we look forward to this short lived winter treat.

In the meantime - with all the cold weather (rare-ish snow in NC) I am heartened that it will freeze some of the bugs and critters who want to eat my veggies in the Spring. I pulled out some of the 50# of blueberries frozen late last summer. Whizzed them up and stirred into homemade banana ice cream with a drizzle of fudge sauce (with an afghan on my knees). That is pure late summer. When I lived in Washington and Oregon we would go out and pick those giant blackberries feasting as we went and jamming up the rest. I miss them. Here the berries are small hard seedy and tasteless. I am perusing the latest seed catalogs and dreaming of thick green gardens laden with food for the table. Warms me up.

The light is returning. I love the light.

I also love the light slowly but surely coming back!

I also defrosted the freezer and found a few gallons of peaches that I have to figure out how to use before the new season comes! And a couple of bags of cherries.

The twins should be starting on solids in a couple of months, so we can puree and re-package some for them. The moms want to be as organic and homemade as possible! (don't all first time moms?)

I'm hoping with vaccinations, we can have some small gatherings this summer to use up some of our peaches and cherries, AND to visit with friends!

longer days started over a month ago ... [grin]. we are slipping into the deep freeze this week after two sizable snows [one was 11.5 inches] ...

Ugh....Same thing out my door..
I think I have a bag of rhubarb in the freezer....just sitting there shouting PIE!!

We are forecast a couple of flakes this week but there probably won't be enough to make a snowball 😂

Things are starting to turn green, and the mimosa in the garden is in flower so lovely perfume.

My tulips are staring to peek through the soil. And the oh so tempting plant catalogs have arrived in the mail....Spring is indeed on its way.

Yes, the longer days! The light is slowly becoming brighter day by day, too - starting to lose it's golden cast. Buds on trees and shrubs are fat, and I can hear a few birds singing in that "spring song" already.

I forgot to pull up my leeks - well, actually I didn't forget, I just didn't feel like doing it LOL!. I'll go out there in the spring and see if I can salvage any -- probably will be mush but might be usable in soups/stews.

Lawn mower commercials.

"The light is returning'...ditto

Yeah, that picture is pretty much us too. We got 2 feet of snow over the past 3 days, 60 MPH winds made big drifts.

Meanwhile, I made vegetable soup with all the vegetables from last summer's garden and I've already been sorting seeds, cleaning pots and making charts, ready to start my little plants in another 6 or 8 weeks.

As for the light, well, I keep thinking of that old Simon and Garfunkel song: " Hello Darkness, my old friend. Why do you come at 5 pm?" Or something like that. (Yeah, I heard that somewhere, but I don't remember where because I'm getting old. Hey, I still REMEMBER Simon and Garfunkel, I'm that old LOL)

Annie

Annie, I still love Simon and Garfunkle!

Agms here is some mimosa for your sister. Its prettier in the sunshine but it looks like snow here.....a rarity!

Seasons are askew when one lives in coastal northern CA. Spring started in January and all the magnolia trees are in full bloom. I'm trying to get my new gardener over so he can pull some shrubs out.

We need foundation work done and so the big plants on that side have to go, sigh. I will lose two of my four precious rosebushes :((

Hard to pin down dates with service workers as everyone is gussying up their houses both interior and exterior, putting in gardens, and installing patios.....hmmm, just like we're doing. LOL!

The calla lilies are out and the red camellias are in full bloom too. So pretty! Nasturtiums are popping out everywhere - they're weeds out here, but so cheerful I don't regret having sowed them a decade or so ago. They just keep re-sowing themselves, a real bargain for the $2 pkts.

I love photographing callas. They are so graceful-looking.

Jakkom, I have over 80 rosebushes. When I had my garden completely redone they were all moved to 5-gallon buckets. They ended up staying there longer than we'd expected, and 4-5 didn't make it, but almost all of them did and didn't suffer for it.

It's colder there, of course, but for the price of a few buckets and some potting soil, maybe some rose food, it might be worth trying to save them in a sheltered part of the yard.

Beautiful calla lily, Jakkom!

My Chinese Witch Hazel is finally showing yellow buds. Snowdrops were up but not open, and now they're buried in the snow. When it melts the winter aconite will come up. But those are winter flowers. The ones that cheer me and feel like springtime are the tiny daffodils that bloom in March.

Day length is increasing, and has been for a while- it becomes more noticeable after the cusp between winter solstice and spring equinox. Many folks know that cusp date as groundhog day.

Starting to get some storage onions breaking dormancy, like they just want to be planted instead of eaten.

I got a few swaths of wild chives in my lawn that start to pop up tender green in early spring before a lot of other stuff is going much. And when the daffs and hyacinths and mascari start showing green around the same time... for sure spring is coming soon. Right now it's all under a lotta snow protecting them from the cold.

We sometimes get a robin or two through the winter- but a sure spring sign is seeing them show up at the feeders on the regular. And the goldfinches start going brighter summer yellow again- they are still in their winter drabs right now. The male cardinals are getting redder now as winter has abraided their feathers and they are getting flashy for spring courtship. And a few more female cardinals showing up too is indicating spring courtships are going to be starting.

Here's how my front yard looks today:

Bromeliad and orchid flowers last for so long (as do certain succulent flowers) that I always have lots of flowers in the front and back yards. I do have to pay attention to seasons, however, so that I will know when to plant my chocolate Habanero chili seeds, which I will be doing this week. The plants take at least eight months to make chilies, once they get started. I usually harvest chilies in November and December.

Lars - ENVY ENVY. When I lived in Mid-CA I had grapefruit blooming in the winter. Here in NC I get camellias and Lenten Rose. Not the same thing. Seeds ordered for a new Spring - just have to wait for the "Wintry Mix" to go away.

This is in front of my house this morning

A few of us here on this board have been dealing with non-stop snow. 12 inches more for next week.

We have no choice but to create our own "spring."

My basement "indoor spring" with DIY high power LEDs driven by solar panels.

It's a silent spring. No birds, but happy to have during this crazy pandemic not having to go out and shop for veggies that you have to sanitize.

dcarch

37 days until Spring!