In which it is still the middle of winter here, but we dream of Spring

The only thing longer than January...

is February.

It has been January for at least 6 years.

The weather has been as amenable as possible, for winter.  Not too cold.  No sn*w so far.  

Daylight 7:38 am – 5:05 pm  9 hours, 27 minutes

But in January, we are firmly in the middle of the Big Dark most of the time.

When it isn't dark, we run outside to play. 
This is my mom (not me) outside a coffeeshop in Bellingham.

I will go walking with anybody.  Fox usually comes with me.  

Mom and I went walking (with Fox) at Boulevard Park this week.

Fox has short legs and a warm outfit, and he's usually good for 2 or 3 miles.  After that,

We train for this.

he catches a ride.  

He will ride comfortably on my shoulders for hours if I don't get tired of carrying him.

He sleeps in the car, wrapped in his special towel, all the way home.

Another dark-dispelling trick:  make something.

Everybody was baking bread during lockdown last year, but I've
been baking bread in the winters since 1990.  

Today's bread was sourdough stone-ground whole wheat with pepitas and sunflower seeds.  Toasted, with soup, it's the most comforting food I know.  (the recipe, such as it is, posted here.)

But one of the best Dark Dispellers is planning the garden.  Usually, the seed catalogs arrive in late December, and I start ordering seeds in mid-January.  

This year, seed companies are already reporting that they are selling out.  

Monica and I save seeds from the vegetables we love most

Last night, I dumped all the seed packets out on the table, and sorted and packaged everything so they would be organized and ready to grab when it's time to plant.  We use a cedar box as a "seed safe".

And then...

I booted up the garden planning software for several hours of moving stuff around on the computer screen.  

The garden plan for the whole summer, including some beds that will have
different crops planted for harvest in early spring and late fall.

The software keeps track of the crops I've planted and the locations and dates I planted them.  

This is the plan for Haenaheim, which had beans planted
in it last year.  This year:  squashes.  

Each year, we plant the necessary vegetables (squashes, beans, turnips, potatoes), the favorite crops (corn, tomatoes, snap peas, garlic, sunflowers) and a few new things.  

Monica planted rutabagas in the 2020 garden.  We didn't get many, but we did get
a few impressive roots--which we had to photograph next to Roo, of course.

For novelty this year, I will try out artichokes (which might or might not be perennial in our region) and a new variety of okra developed for northern gardens.  

The garden feeds us all summer (and fall, and beyond).  

In January, planning the garden also helps to remind us that blue skies are coming.

Garden, August 2020