Spring is sneaking in....

There are definite signs of the eminent arrival of spring here in the high desert. The buck deer that frequent our feeder lost their antlers last month. They looked so funny with bare circles on their heads where the antlers were, but just weeks after the antler drop, they are now sporting the protrusions that will soon be the velvety soft start of new antlers.

Three weeks ago the bluebird couple that use a certain birdhouse every year arrived to check out their place. Next came the gold finches, the males are now yellow again having lost their winter drab. And the swallows have shown their presence as well, ever so graceful in their sweeping flights. Most importantly, the Juncos appear to have departed, a sure sign that better weather is coming and will be here to stay.

Last Friday while driving to town with my sister-in-law who was visiting, we saw a cow that had just dropped her calf. The little glistening dark bundle was still on the ground with mom licking it clean. When we passed by on our return less than two hours later, the little fellow was up on it's feet ready to start it's life!

On that same trip we also noted that the irrigation canal was still dry. But the next day when we drove the same route, we saw that the water had come and filled the canal. Around here, that is a very certain sign that the growing season is beginning.

Feeling the age old tug to grow things, last night found us out in the dark under a floodlight potting up the first two pots of our upside down tomato plants. We are going to plant more this year due to the good success of the two we planted last year. This will be the first planting and we will stagger the next so that we will have fresh tomatoes to pick throughout the growing season and beyond. These first two are an Early Girl and a Jetstar. We also potted up a basil start and will keep it indoors for awhile still until the weather moderates. Since the tomatoes are growing upside down in buckets, we are able to bring them in when there is a threat of frost.

One thing around here that gets a jump start on spring are the weeds. Now that the dear old dog is gone, we won't have to worry about them as much - some grow terrible little sticker nuggets that really hurt his pads. But we will also be able to spray in areas where we did not previously because we were so careful about using any chemicals in areas that he would frequent. In fact, I had hoped to hoist on the backpack sprayer this afternoon to start but it looks like it might rain, so that will have to wait. For now, the weeds can think they are winning....