dark furrow
a quiet almanac of soil and sky
night, the twenty-first of july
early spring
the soil warms. the light returns longer each day.
what was sleeping is not sleeping anymore.
cold mud on my handsthe first row planted beforethe sparrows arrive
sky
still cold enough to frost. the season is not settled yet.
- first quarter, 56% lit
- sunrise 6:14 am · sunset 8:27 pm
- 14h 13m of daylight (-1.3 minutes from yesterday)
- civil dusk 8:56 pm · sailor's dark 9:32 pm · true dark 10:10 pm
the moon is in its first quarter. plant things that fruit: tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash. the increasing light favors strong stems and heavy fruit.
gemini and the twins castor and pollux still hold the south sky
a late snow in march was called a "poor man's fertilizer." the snow carries nitrogen from the atmosphere and works it into the soil as it melts. the old farmers welcomed it even as they cursed the cold.
garden
in the ground now
- onion sets, push them in like small promises
- potatoes, eyes up, in trenches of loose earth
- lettuce and spinach, scatter them, they forgive
- radishes, the fastest kindness a garden returns
starting indoors
- start tomatoes and peppers under light
- herbs in small pots on a warm sill
- marigolds, to walk out with the tomatoes later
this week
- start hardening off seedlings. a few hours outside each day, a little more each time.
- turn the compost pile. it has been sitting all winter and needs air.
good neighbors
- marigolds at the edges of every bed, they earn their place from the first week to the last
- lettuce among the radishes, the radishes break the crust before the lettuce roots reach
- potatoes and bush beans, the beans give back the nitrogen the potatoes pull out
bad neighbors
- fennel walks alone, plant it in a corner of its own or not at all
- onions and peas keep no peace, the alliums stunt the legumes and the legumes resent it
- garlic too close to the peas will keep the vines small all season
kitchen
in season
- leeks and potatoes into a slow pot with thyme
- the last of the stored apples, baked with butter and cinnamon
- eggs from hens that are laying again after the dark months
- bread with whatever is on hand, the oldest recipe
tonight
- bread with whatever is on hand, the oldest recipe
putting up
- if ramps grow nearby, pickle them in salt and vinegar. the brine that's left over is gold.
- start a new cider vinegar from apple scraps and a splash of last year's mother. by midsummer it will be sharp enough to pickle with.
foraging
- cleavers, the sticky sprawling weed. steep fresh as a spring tonic tea.
- wild onions and ramps, if you know where they grow. take only what you need.
- chickweed, growing low and thick in damp spots. eat it raw or wilt it like spinach.
- henbit and purple dead-nettle, two of the first flowers. both edible, mild and green.
early spring foraging is mostly greens. the land is generous before the heat comes, offering what the body needs after a long winter of stored food.
folklore
the worm moon is coming or just passed. some called this the crow moon, for the sound that breaks the silence at the end of winter. the sap moon, because the maples are running. the ground is unlocking.
a simple fire cider: apple cider vinegar, horseradish, garlic, onion, ginger, honey. steep for weeks. take a spoonful when you feel a cold coming. spring remedies are about waking up. the body has been indoors too long. bitter greens and sharp roots shake the dust off.
earthworms in the turned soil, the best sign there is