Yesterday, my older daughter and I saw a tree full of finches, all twittering like crazy. In ancient Ireland, the first sign of spring was around Feb. 1, when the ewes began to lactate. I don't know, maybe that's still the first sign. But in Idaho, I think it's the finches. That, and the appearance of buds on the trees. Our weather changed all at once. A couple of days ago, we were still in a winter storm watch, and now, suddenly, we've got finches.
Next weekend I need to get the seeds started indoors for this year's vegetable garden, but right now, I'm working on getting my house back under control. Almost-spring cleaning, I guess. Maybe that's another sign of spring on the way--the urge to clear out the obsolete, reorganize the old-but-still-good, and figure out how to obtain the new.
We're working on transitioning to mostly local eating, which is hard in the winter, but we've managed better than we might otherwise have done. Tonight's dinner is vegetable soup made with the lentils I sprouted this week, a jar of our home-canned kale and collard greens, a can of commercial vegetable juice, and a plethora of seasonings. The great thing about sprouts is that you can have them year-round, and they're really easy to do. They give all kinds of wonderful health benefits, and are a great addition to a locavore's diet during the winter when local produce is limited to last fall's squash, apples and potatoes.
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