Every winter, as the snow falls and wind whistles through the pines and down our chimney,

I dream of Spring

and how wonderful my garden will be.

I promise myself I will leaf through all the seed catalogs

and find new varieties

of vegetables and flowers to plant.

 My copy of “The Backyard Homestead” is located

and with it, my conviction I should raise chickens

( maybe even some goats).

I get excited about the prospect of living off the grid.

Why can’t we do that?

Why not plant and harvest all our own food?

I could learn how to “can” and “pickle” things.

Couldn’t I?

How hard could that be?

I picture myself in my straw garden hat and

bluejean overalls ( even though I don’t own any)

and I am happily raking mulch in the garden.

There is a  fence around my garden and

a charming garden shed with two small chairs,

where I can sit under the trees

and write .

Beans are trellised and reaching toward the sky.

Tomato plants are heavy with juicy, red fruit.

There are oodles of plump berries for pie making..

and so many herbs in the garden,

I’ll never use them all..

This, I should mention, is all happening inside my head;

where every thing is always perfect!

The reality is : I’m too tired during the winter to make plans.

I lose the desire to do anything but eat copious amounts of carbs and watch Netflix in bed.

Some part of me fears that Spring might not come this year,

or I might not be here to see it.

But it always comes and I’m still here.

So this, once again, is my current situation.

It’s the last week of March.

I should  be raking and fertilizing.

Every thing should have been pruned by now.

I need to get rid of the leaves I ignored last Fall.

There is no fence & no charming little potting shed.

There are no plans for new gardens.

My copy of “Backyard Homestead” has disappeared

&

I still don’t know how to “can” or “pickle”.

A big bag of zinnia seeds has been purchased

and I intend to sow them in my new cutting garden,

if I get around to it.

Beyond that- I have no idea what I will do.

Every thing looks so beautiful in my head!

Maybe this will be the year I can take what’s in my imagination

and actually turn it into the garden of my dreams.

Wouldn’t that be wonderful?