I don't believe Phil

OK, Phil says an early Spring. For some reason I am reluctant to believe him. Perhaps that's because last year he told us a late Spring, but we actually had excellent planting weather more than 2 weeks before our average last frost date.

Yellow Granex Onions

This year he says early Spring, but as I'm typing this it's pouring ice and sleet and snow outside, with no warming trend anywhere in sight. I'm ready to start planting, the birds are singing, and I've seen the cranes flying North, but I don't see a lot of other signs that Spring really is near.

Despite my reservations, there are still a lot of chores to do to get ready. I have been working like a dog trying to get 10 new beds ready to receive potatoes, sweet potatoes and squash. I also spent the last few days cleaning up older beds and taking stock of what veggies have made it through the pretty brutal Winter.

I was so pleased to find that most of my collards and onions had survived, even the itty bitty sprouts that I seeded last October are hanging in there. I can't believe that they have survived temps down near zero with no apparent damage. I plan to allow a few go to seed in the Spring.

I planted bunching onions, American Flag leeks, and Yellow Granex sweet onions. The only problems I've really had is that bunnies have gotten in and are mowing off the tops. They should be fine if I can figure out how to keep the rarebits at bay.

Georgia Collards

I am also very impressed with my Georgia collards. This is the first year I have grown collards, and they were unbelievably productive and sweet all through the first snow. Since then they've just been hanging on, not doing much but making small rosettes. I suspect they're just biding their time waiting for better weather. I'm hoping I get at least a few weeks of greens from them before they bolt, but I definitely want the seeds from these guys as well.

Grand Rapids leaf lettuce

One of the most important aspects of sustainable living and gardening is seed saving, something I have been rather lax about over the past couple of years. But it's so important that any plants that thrive and produce in your soil, you save. Even if you plant a hundred of one particular type, and only one or two survive drought, flood, cold, heat, pests, etc., for whatever reason that one specimen has the genetic potential to thrive in your particular growing conditions.

That's God working through the process of "survival of the fittest" evolution, something you can see occur in a single generation in your garden. Those specimens that can't adapt get eliminated and do not pass on their genetics to any future generations.

I had good luck this year with my lettuces. I had planted about 1000 head of leaf varieties, and my survivors today are Red Sails, Redina, Freckles, and Grand Rapids, all varieties designed to tolerate cold temps. They did not survive unscathed, most of their outer leaves got burnt, but they are already producing new rosettes.

Chinese Tatsoi

One of my most amazing survivalists was a single head of chinese Tatsoi, a beautiful chinese cabbage that can be used like spinach, eaten raw in salads, or stir fried. I'm not sure if it will self pollinate, so I will plant a couple more next to it this Spring just to be sure I get viable seed.

Roquette (Rocket) Arugula

Other survivors were all of my spinach, escarole and curly endive, my red russian kale, and of course that old work horse of winter gardens, arugula. If you haven't grown and enjoyed arugula, you are really missing out. While we did have some die back, the new leaves are smaller and a little tougher than the foliage they produced in the Fall, and the flavor is excellent.

So even though it looks like we will have a couple more months of cold wet weather, I can't help but notice those giddy feelings of excitement when I start thinking about the glorious weather ahead and all the fun I'm going to have sitting out in my garden planting, weeding, listening to the birds and watching the horses and the cow enjoying the first grass of the year out in the pasture. It's gonna be a great year, if it ever gets here!