March is tough
March has been a tough month for me here in Green Bay. The old saying about March is, “In like a lion and out like a lamb,” but that really hasn’t been the case this year. The vast majority of days this month have been cold. Significantly below average temperatures. We did have 2 or 3 days in the 50s and reaching 60 but those few days weren’t enough to start soaking the winter temperatures out of my bones.
In February, I was looking so forward to March. I was thinking, “If we can just get to March, all will be well. There will still be some cold days but they will be balanced with warm, sunshine-y days and garden things will start to happen!” Yeah, no. Not really. Not this March. We had a warmer than usual fall and now we are paying the price for the delayed winter.
March has felt like an entire month of waiting for me, with regards to the garden. Nothing that needs to happen has been done yet. There are stumps to be ground out from a fierce Dec. wind storm that took 3 ugly pine trees out of my backyard (more full sun planting space now!) but the stump grinder can’t get here until the ground thaws. I have seedlings that need to harden off outside because I need more space under the grow lights but the days lately have been at or below freezing for their daytime temps. I have just a handful of daffodils that have dared to poke their little shoots up above ground and hundreds more huddled below the soil just waiting…waiting. The 1600+ tulips haven’t emerged at all. The ranunculus haven’t been planted out in their raised bed yet because the soil is still frozen. And so, I wait. Impatiently.
The weather is forecasted to be in the 50s next week so I’m hoping beyond hope that we can finally make some headway towards doing productive things. April just has to be a better month than March. So, on this final day of March, I say, “Goodbye and good riddance!” to this dreary & cold month. I shall take a deep and bracing breath of cold, arctic fresh March air and prepare myself for a busy, productive and accomplished month of April.
