Could it actually be spring?
By BILL DUNCAN Looking out my office window today as I write this column I have to remember we have another week of February. Any Oregonian knows that February is the coldest month of the entire year. Yet, the sun is shining and I can see blooms everywhere. My plum trees are filled with white and pink blooms. The daffodils are in full array, the crocuses have already bloomed and the tulips have stuck their heads above the ground. Even the trees are showing tips of green. I have seen birds flying with hay spikes in their mouths, so nesting is at hand. Is it springtime? It may look like it and green thumbs, like mine are itching, but then I remember the sage advice of Mark Twain: “In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours.” That is a wise rule to remember, especially since it is still February. Before you rush out and buy your tomato plants, remember we must first see daylight savings time and that is not until March 14. We must celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, which isn’t until March 17 and then wait three more days until March 20. Weather permitting that will be the first day of Spring 2010. Even so, you should heed the advice of my farmer neighbor Don Kruse who says the time to plant is one day in May and even he doesn’t know what day that is. After more than 30 odd years of living in Oregon, I have come to respect the planting season and a rush to get my vegetable garden growing in years past has been met with many false springs. But the waiting is hard. My garden soul mate is my oldest daughter and only I could understand her recent "In-between" gift. It was in-between a Valentine’s Day gift and a Birthday gift. My birthday isn’t until April, but she couldn’t resist sending a package early, so she sent it for Valentine’s Day, along with a homemade card the shape of a heart that said: "…isn’t really a valentine, tho it is about love and sort of for your birthday, tho a little too soon, but it is a birthday wish that you will love, tho spring has not sprung." She called herself my gardening clone and wished me a happy planting day. The gift? Twelve cowpots. In case you read that wrong, I said cow pots, not cow pies. But in truth the planting pots are sort of cow pies since they are made from cow manure dried, composted and then mixed with natural fibers and pressed into pots. The accompanying information said the pots are the invention of Matt and Bert Freund, two Connecticut dairy farmers who were looking for an environmentally responsible way to dispose of cow manure. The cowpots are odorless and free of weed seeds. The promo said using the pots to start seeds would greatly reduce transplant shock. They can be planted directly in the soil after the seedling has started and will continue to provide essential organic nutrients as the seedling grows in the garden. Those dairy farmers in Tillamook came up with molding garden pets, like rabbits, frogs and the like out of solid manure. Each time the pet was watered, a manure tea leaked into the garden to fertilize the plants. I have used those in the past as a slow feeding process for my garden. I must use patience even with planting my tomato seeds this early because I know what Mark Twain said is true, it is still February here in Oregon and inside of four and twenty hours anything can happen. Right now, however, I intend to enjoy the spring like weather for as long as it sticks around. From the looks of the grass growing outside my office window, I had better fire up the lawn mower before I need a machete to hack a path to the barn. (Bill Duncan can be reached at bduncan@nrtoday.com or by writing to P.O. Box 812, Roseburg, OR 97470.)
The Elderstatesman