Josephine Neuse once said, “Anyone who thinks gardening starts in the spring and ends in the fall is missing the best part of the whole year; for gardening begins in January with a dream.” And I think we have all been dreaming of gardening since January, or maybe even since the last harvest in the fall–planning and preparing for what we hope will be a beautiful and bountiful growing season. Planning my garden, and helping others plan their garden, is one of my favorite parts of the gardening process. I love talking vegetables with my friends, neighbors, and clients and learning about the new practices they will be implementing and the new seeds they will introducing in their gardens.

Even though the weather has hindered progress and we have been unable to have our first Grow Appalachia meeting at the Magoffin County Extension Office, I have enjoyed talking to my GA families and sharing in their enthusiasm and excitement for this great project. I hope to sow some lettuces, kale, and spinach at the office in the next few weeks and will soon be preparing to seed some vegetables indoors for giving away and transplanting.

While the anticipation of spring and warmer weather is almost more than I can stand, last week’s snow and freezing temperatures brought some unexpected glimpses of what spring will bring–LEAVES! But in the form of ice! Check out the photos I captured on Friday morning of some of my trees and shrubs bearing lovely ice foliage.

Until next time…happy garden planning!

Ice Leaves

Ice Leaves