The First Day of Spring?

Well, Mother Nature is doing it again. First, she lulls me into a false sense of security with nice, warm spring-like weather and then she zaps me back into the deep freeze. I don’t like it. My bees don’t like it. My garden doesn’t like it. My calendar says that today is the first day of Spring. I’m crossing my fingers that tonight’s hard freeze finally signals the end of the cold and that I can breathe a sigh of relief. I am itching to get back into the garden, so I can start eating fresh produce again. 

In the South, we have way more than just four seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer & Fall; we have what I call the Weather Two-Step…two steps forward, one step back. 

So far in March, we have had mostly spring-y weather; high temps in the 50’s & 60’s, lows in the 30’s & 40’s for the first two weeks, then back to winter this week. As a matter of fact, with the exception of the major Arctic blast we received at Christmas (0°F!), this week has been some of the coldest temps we’ve gotten all winter long. Brr!

I’m ready to get out into the garden, but Mother Nature has put the brakes on full stop! I should have already planted my potatoes & onions and started acclimating my brassica seedlings (broccoli, cabbage, etc.) to outdoor living, so I can get them planted as well. I have trays of seedlings in my house waiting to go downstairs in the unheated garage, but it’s too cold right now. My kitchen looks like a mini-jungle.

My bees need to be inspected too, but any days of warm, sunny weather without gale force winds (the beekeepers Holy Trinity) are few and far between during the winter. Bees get grumpy when it’s cold & damp and taking off their roof to give them a lookie loo just makes them grumpier. I had my first sting of 2023 just walking across the yard!

I know we will continue to have cold snaps until May and then we will return to Hell’s sauna AKA summer soon enough. Just once I wold like to experience a “normal” spring…or should I say, alleged normal spring. I don’t think normal exists. 

Okay, my grumpy rant is over. Happy First Day of Spring!