Spring Fever or Freeze?

Broccoli and tomato seedlings

I haven’t planted anything outdoors yet. There isn’t a lot we can plant in April in the Colorado foothills. Our average last frost is May 15, and tomatoes and peppers can't survive until June. Still, if I had my act together, I would already have beets, radishes, and spinach in the ground.

I could blame the weather, which seems great during the week when I’m stuck in the office, and then turns wintry on the weekends. Or life, and the many unexpected things that have come up this year.

The real reason I haven’t planted yet is because I lost my first planting in 2013 to record low April temperatures. Once burned, twice shy. Or more accurately, once frozen. After putting all that effort into preparing the soil, deciding what goes where, and measuring out the plot and the seed distribution correctly, losing the planting to a freeze was sad.

The second planting came up. The season ended well. Not a spectacular year, but then the garden just can’t be fantastic every year. I’m determined to do all I can to make this season a good one.

How many things in life mirror the anticipation of gardening? The eager preparation, the hope for wild success, the labor to get the project going. Then the setbacks, the challenges, or the outright failure.

Success, whether occasional or dependable, keeps us going. The surprise crop of tender yellow “green” beans that produced until the first fall freeze. Carrots determined to grow no matter the conditions. Fun little cucumbers perfect for salads.

A trip to the local garden shop provides inspiration with displays of seed packets and the smells of earth and vegetation. In my flowerbed, the irises are poking through the layer of winter mulch. Birds are singing. I’m ready to get my hands in the soil! But maybe I’ll give it another week or two. This spring fever could end in another disastrous freeze.

Until then, I'll have to be content to baby my broccoli, tomato, and pepper seedlings, and encourage the amazing winter eggplant with promises of sunny days on the deck.

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The eggplant I brought inside last fall as a tiny plant, loves a sunny south-facing window.