I am a person that loves winter. As I have said before I love this season as a resting, thinking, and planning time. I love thinking of our garden soil taking in the nutrients of the leaves we placed on top in the fall. I love thinking of the melting snow watering our trees. As JEJ was heading out to shovel one more time this week he looked on the positive side. " At least this will help our water situation in the summer." If winter brings snow, that only helps our gardens flourish in spring, summer, and fall.I love that time in January when the seed catalogues arrive. Even though we know it will be three months before planting begins catalogues and stack of gardening books help with the early planning. We can have conversations about how we are going to change the garden to conserve water. We can draw out a plot of what a new cutting garden might look like. We can decide if the big trees that loom in the driveway may need to come down.
I love gardening because it is about planning changes, but also about sustaining what has worked. It is about enjoying zucchini in the winter and waiting eagerly for spinach in the spring. As I look out at the piles of snow enriching my gardens I thumb through these catalogues with eagerness. Let the planning begin.