Signs of Spring

Ahh… Yesterday was the first day of spring! As though someone sent a memo to nature, Tuesday it was 20 degrees, today it is in the 50’s. It has started to smell of earth outside. My garden is (prematurely) calling to me, begging me to plant something, anything.

My first tomato plants are getting their second set of leaves. Like lanky teenagers they are wobbling around, and like an overprotective parent, I am worried that they will self-destruct (or more likely, the cats will get them!)

I am eagerly anticipating the first fresh peas, local asparagus, and butter lettuce – all foods that actually taste like the color green, the foods that give the crayon in the Crayola box the name “spring green”. For now I am still stuck in root-vegetable land, but days like today remind me that the real spring (not the one marked on the calendar) is just around the corner.