A day's ramblings...

According to the Farmer's Almanac...."The March Full Moon is known as the Worm Moon.   As the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter; or the Full Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. To the settlers, it was also known as the Lenten Moon, and was considered to be the last full Moon of winter."  I snapped this photograph of Luna this morning after coming home from the sheep barn.  It was stunning.

The days are growing warmer here (we had 70 degrees today!) and longer (have you noticed?), and it definitely feels like winter has passed.  That doesn't mean we can't get a good, wet, two-foot, spring blizzard, but we know that the snow won't stay for long.  In fact, spring blizzards are known as poor man's fertilizer up north -- full of nitrogen and slow-melting moisture that really gives grasses and emerging crops a boost.

I haven't seen any crows yet this spring, but I have spotted blackbirds, migrating ducks and Canada geese.  I spied a house finch on some old sunflower heads the other day, and although most people think of house finches as year-round residents, I have seen nary a bird all winter, minus the flickers, downy wood peckers and eagles.  My bird-loving heart is really aching to wake in the morning to the melody of the Western meadowlark crooning on the fence posts.  Soon, soon.

My mind keeps wandering and daydreaming about gardens -- flower beds and veggie gardens and potato patches.  I read an interesting article about growing fabulous tomatoes here.  The author, who grows veggies for Manresa Restaurants in Santa Cruz, adds crushed egg shells, aspirin, fish heads and bone meal to her holes before planting tomato plants in the ground.  There are more details in the article.  I'm going to give the method a try.

My DD told me that when she was shopping yesterday, there were scads of people in the garden center buying pots and potting soil and looking at plants.  It's that warm, yes, but it's deceiving when you live up north and the weather suddenly turns all spring-like and you feel like planting a garden and hanging flower baskets all around, but those of us who have lived here a long time know better.  You might as well just go pick up the sticks and dog bones from your yard and pull up the old sunflowers you didn't get to last fall (if the ground isn't frozen hard as a rock) and call it good for now.

I do think I'll go see if I can resurrect the geranium roots I stowed away in the crawl space through the winter.  Do you remember My Big Fat Geranium from last summer?  I do hope she bounces back to life again.

Speaking of beautiful flowers and bouncing to life, I wanted to share a lovely video with you that a friend shared with me.  It's about a 95 year old woman named Maia.  I think of her as a garden rose as big as a dinner plate in full bloom.  She glows with peace, grace, and a quiet spirit, and she exudes vitality and health.  I don't know her at all, but I think I want to be like her when I grow up to be an old lady one day.  Here's the video.  And now another friend has found a 7 minute isometric exercise video that Maia did when she was a mere 94 years old.  Be inspired!  I am.