From my window I can see where the back side of Turtleback Mountain ought to be, but right now it's covered by thick grey sky and wind-whipped trees. After a few days of hesitant sunshine, the storm that everyone previewed would return has done so with rainy insistence. I am thankful that I spent the weekend hand-turning cover-cropped beds and then tilling them on the last clear day. Now at least the fall-planted oats, vetch, field peas, clover, and fava beans will be decomposing and make it much easier to till a final, plantable bed the next time it dries out.
Right now my greenhouse is sown with peas and spinach. I'm hoping that the cloud cover these stormy days brings and resulting warmer night-time temperatures will encourage the first seeds of the season. My approach to sowing the first lettuces, broccoli, cabbage, and even tomatoes in seeding flats is somewhat non-traditional. At this point, the windowsills and greenhouses of many other growers are already stacked full of transplants that were started as early as February. Last year my experience was that everything I sowed mid-March easily surpassed what I had started at the beginning of the month in terms of speed, health and vigor. When it's cold like this it can stress young plants, causing them to grow slowly. Then their roots fill the transplant cell without much top growth. By waiting just a little longer I will get faster growth, healthier starts. I'm planning a seeding date on the next sunny day, which right now looks like it will be Friday. We'll see if my hypothesis holds true this season.
In the meantime I'll drink my tea and look out at the rain. I remember what Vern Coffelt said on Monday as we stood with our faces to the sun, "In March, I'll be grateful for sun any time we can get it."
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