An Early Imbolc

Well, this little experiment didn't go so well.

I mean the blogging part.  The garden was pretty good.  When all was said and done we got 16 pints of tomatos canned and in the pantry.  We had enough to make salsa as gifts for the holidays.  In addition to salsa, there was apple mint jelly and raspberry jelly.  I have some herbs frozen and dried.  I also have some green peppers frozen.  I think we might have about 6 smallish onions left in the basement,

Much of the winter so far I spent with Seamus focusing on other things, but occasionally returning to what we'll be doing out back.  Pond, grape arbor, another bed or two... all are things in the future.  And chickens!

Today though, is Imbolc.  I think.  I know what you're saying. Imbolc isn't until February 1!  Well, some of you. Others are saying "What is Imbolc?"  Let me get to that first.

Imbolc is spelled in many ways and gets translated a few ways as well.  One popular one is "in the belly," and refers to when the sheep would begin lactating before their lambs were born.  You thus had one way of judging how big a flock you were going to have and you could also get some much needed fresh protein from the milk.  Don't think we haven't had fun with a religion that celebrates sheep lactation.

Another association with Imbolc is that this is when the ground thaws and you can begin working the soil.  It's going to freeze again, so hold those tomatoes.

Okay, that's the really quick-and-dirty "What is Imbolc."  Now to bring everything back together, in Ohio we typically have a midwinter thaw and it usually falls at the end of January or beginning of February.  Really close to the calendar Imbolc.  I have decided that in my "listen to my land" philosophy that whenever that happens, that day is Imbolc.

It's been really warm the past few days, in the high 40s and even low 50s fairly consistently.  A very welcome change from the polar vortex last week.  I went for a run today, even, outside. It was the first time I've ever run in temperatures below 60 degrees, but it was so sunny and I had been cooped up in a windowless office for about six hours.  As I ran, I came to the conclusion that today, indeed, was Imbolc.  When I got home, I wasn't yet ready to be indoors, so I put on some longer pants and my wellies and hit the back yard.  Gus came too, so he got some much needed running around time.  I brought a packet of lettuce seeds with me, found the garden rake, and chose one of the smaller pallets.  I pulled out the old tomato and muskmelon vines (we got no muskmelons) and cleared away some of the neighbor's willow leaves.  The soil was damp and cold and sticky.  I broke it up with the rake and then with little to no planning, sprinkled seeds in the eight open areas of the pallet, covering them up.

They may not grow.  But if they do, we'll get some wonderful lettuce in the spring.  Today was the reminder that the new growing season is not that far away.