An Accidental Harvest

I've been holding myself back lately. I've caught a glimpse of sunshine for at least a few minutes most days these past several weeks, and for those few minutes I have thought, "what's the worst that could happen?" My first true garden season is approaching, and I'm having a hard time waiting until the "proper time", whenever that may be. If the ground is warm enough for seeds to germinate, should I plant them? We still have a possible four months of regular rain, even if we luck out and the temperatures don't plummet again.

Well today is a brilliant sunny day, a true basking outside with a book and a dog kind of day, and I'm not waiting anymore. My seeds that I planted indoors a couple weeks ago are sprouting nicely (first hurdle cleared!), and it's time to head outside. My excitement at a spring, summer, and fall full of home-grown produce aside, I am trying to keep from getting ahead of the timeline, so today is just for planting bulbs for summer flowers and getting the soil in the veg garden turned over.

The bulbs in, the soil looking healthy and wormy, my last swipe with the pitch fork and I come up with a small bunch of what look, smell, and taste like spring onions. I'm thinking of roasting these sweet bulby surprise gifts and folding them into a simple risotto with mascarpone and black pepper. I'll raise my glass of, hmm, a crisply clean Alpine white wine and toast an auspicious start to garden season.