Is It Planting Time Yet?

I was describing a typical Spokane spring to a friend who is contemplating a move to Spokane this summer.  Through my lengthy description he listened intently and then said, "So, it's a two steps forward, one step back kind of thing."

Exactly.

Saturday broke warm and sunny with a piercingly blue sky and my favorite white puffy clouds just cresting the hill over the pastures.  I was at our friends' farm solo that day, my wife held up at home with spring cleaning.  The animals were positively reveling in the sun, laying with their long necks and gangly legs spread out along the grass, snoring away.  I have to say, between the work and a little banjo practice, I did a little sun napping of my own.

And then, Sunday came, wet and cold and windy.  The clouds had moved in during the night and the rain and grauple began to fall early in the day when we were not yet done with the daily chores.

Spring is start and go, intermittent, and sometimes infuriating around here.  But it is also often beautiful and full of the promise of longer, warmer days, green grass, and shady maple trees.  I can't wait.

Our garden will be limited this year, due to the good possibility that we will be moving to larger property and the prospect of changing this urban farm to a more traditional (if we could be called that) rural setup sometime in the summer.  But we will plant potatoes, green beans, carrots, and broccoli at the least.  We have to grow something.

I can't wait.