False Spring

I know it isn't really spring being the 12th of February but we hit 55 degree F today. Our snow is gone (has never really showed up) and we had spurts of great sunshine. Oh it was nice to have sun. It has been very gloomy lately and I've missed the sunshine.

I went out and cleaned up the garden from last fall. I never really cleaned up before winter. Our ground isn't even close to being frozen. A little too wet to till, but it won't be long if we keep having days like today. I will be happy to get out working in the garden again. Sure makes me a happy camper.

On to actual garden updates: Seeds are purchased. I didn't get a ton, but I bought more than I had originally planned. They are so hard to resist. The soil pods are soaking as we speak and I'll be starting my tomatos today.

My varieties this year: Black Krim, Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, a couple of paste tomatos (I don't remember which variety I bought this morning), and a tomatillos for my salsa. On a side note. I need more tomato cages. Good thing we have wire left over from the fence. I'll build 'em as needed.

I think I'll be starting everything else outside this year. Other than maybe one or two herbs. Haven't really decided there yet. We'll see how it goes with Bear getting into things. He really wants to play with the soil pods.

Weather

We haven't had much of a winter. Lots of rain this year. There are days like yesterday where the precipitation comes down as snow but it is warm enough not to stick. Bum deal. We really don't have any snow to speak of. The weather-man has been talking about numbers of 50-75% below normal snow pack. Kinda scary.

I wish we'd get some of the snow that is dumping back East. They are getting 18 inches plus at a time. Apparently this isn't normal for them. Schools are closing and stores are running out of food. I am fasinated by this. I don't understand not being prepared for winter weather. I know we aren't as prepared as we could be, but we would be okay for awhile. Little things like having powdered milk and flour on hand. Having a heat source other than electricity. Even if it is just candles or a camping stove. Those things make sense to me, but the running around in a panic like the articles talk about doesn't make sense. I assume most people aren't really doing this and it is just the media hype. They like to make a big deal out of a small deal.

Several years back there was a small washout of our road out by the highway from the high spring runoff. The "flood" encompassed all of about 3-4 feet worth of road and a couple of inches of water. This wasn't the case if you watched the evening news. Boy, the whole Valley was flooding and it was a big issue according to them. Funny, it never slowed us down.

At any rate, I'm hoping we get some decent snow between now and spring. The ground sure could use it. We'd rather not have lots of fires around next summer.