Spring! There is just something about it that gets the blood moving.

It could be the excitement of new life pushing its way up from the cold, rocky ground the way crocuses do.

Or the ability to go off the beaten path to explore. Not having to wade through knee deep snow does make a walk more attractive.

Or just the fun of playing in the puddles. I know the geese have been enjoying this.

A sure sign of spring in Yukon Credit PHOTOS: Joan Norberg

They have been sauntering around the property like absentee landlords, checking out their holdings.

They even nipped at Schwartz one afternoon because they wanted to look under the steps where he was minding his own business. He wasn’t very impressed with them, and now stays on the deck whenever they come up to the house.

One thing I enjoy doing in the spring is going for a walk up the hill behind our house looking for crocuses. They usually start higher up on the hill where the snow melts first but as the season progresses they bloom farther down the hill.

Last year I was pleased to see them blooming right beside our house.

Things are starting to sprout indoors as well.

Over the Easter weekend, I decided to plant some trays I had used last year. Some of the pots still contained soil in them. So all I had to do was add the seeds.

Last year I used an outbuilding to start my plants in but I didn’t have much success. The building wasn’t as warm as the seedlings needed and the windows weren’t large enough to admit sufficient sunlight. As a result some of the seeds didn’t sprout.

This year I am planting in our house, where they will get more sun. Hopefully things will go better.

Off to a running start after a year’s delay 

One thing I wanted to start early was corn. I have found it easier to transplant corn out into the garden than to have it germinate in our cold soils. This also gives it a head start for our short summer season.

As a result, I have been able to harvest a few precious cobs of corn.

Before planting any of the trays, I watered them to make sure the seeds were planted in moist soil. This prevents the soil from stealing moisture needed for germination.

While planting this year’s seeds I noticed one tray still had seeds in it from last year. This tray I set aside to plant corn in.

Because of the size of corn seeds, they need a lot more moisture to germinate, so I usually soak them in a separate container before planting them. It took the corn a few days to plump up with water. While the tray sat and waited for the corn, it enjoyed the same sunny location as the other trays.

The day after planting the corn, Allan was taking a peak at things. Seeing new plants he exclaimed, “Whatever you have planted here is up.”

As exciting as that sounds, it wasn’t the corn that was up but cucumbers I had planted and gave up on a year ago.

Better late than never, as they say.


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