Moxie Gardener

How long until the snow melts?

Winter is not kind to gardeners in Minnesota.  The worst part is waiting for the snow to melt and the ground to thaw.  It’s excruciating.

I shoveled the snow off my vegetable garden on the last day of February once.  I thought it was a good idea: the ground would thaw faster so I could plant earlier.  I planned to cover the plot with thick clear plastic to magnify the sun and thaw the ground even faster.

I chose the last day of February because it’s about a month before the ground normally begins to thaw.  You can plant seeds of the most cold-hardy vegetables—radish, spinach, and other spring greens—as soon as you can dig the soil.  I was hoping to plant about two weeks earlier than normal.

I had no idea shoveling the snow off my vegetable garden would attract so much attention.

First I noticed my neighbor standing in her patio door, pretending not to watch me.  Then her husband of sixty years (conveniently) took out the trash.  On his way back in he told me the ground was frozen and I wouldn’t be able to plant any seeds that day.  I thanked him.

My son and his friends came through the gate and wanted to know if I was getting ready to plant my garden.  I assured them I was not and they told me that the ground was frozen, so nothing would grow yet, anyway.  I thanked them too.

The phone was ringing as I got in the house.  It was another neighbor (one who hears and sees everything).  She told me her husband said to tell me I was wasting my time working in my garden because the ground was frozen.  I told her to thank him.

When my friend came by later that day, he wanted to know why I had shoveled the snow off my garden, because the ground was frozen.

He was a little perplexed when I vehemently (and somewhat tersely) informed him that of course I knew the ground was frozen.  That was the point of shoveling the snow off.  So the ground would thaw.

People who don’t garden just don’t get it.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 21st, 2009 at 6:10 AM and is filed under Garden Journal, Winter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.