Farm Journal ~ February
It is possible, in the grand scheme of visible things, to see a slight change in color on the blueberry canes. The deep crimson of December seems to be giving way to their late-winter/early- spring hue, which is a shade of pale amber. It is a bit earlier than expected but we have had a fairly mild winter so far. There are certainly cold days ahead so we hope their dormancy will stretch at least until late this month. The plants do emerge from dormancy in a gradual process that is never exact on any calendar. As we chronicled in our book, "It takes a certain ratio of cold, even frigid, days for them to fully enter into and then complete their dormancy," with a "chilling requirement" of three to four months (beginning in mid to late November).
To our point of view February is a welcome month to turn to and right from the start, on February 2nd, we celebrate the halfway point between the winter solstice (December 21st) and the vernal/spring equinox (March 20th), called Candlemas Day or Imbolc in older traditions (Groundhog Day for us). It is a hopeful month. We have seen the earnest signs of spring elsewhere- in bird song filling the winter silence, pale yellow coloration on the willow trees, does with their fawns strolling in the woods- and we trust that Nature knows just what she is doing; how could we not...
To our point of view February is a welcome month to turn to and right from the start, on February 2nd, we celebrate the halfway point between the winter solstice (December 21st) and the vernal/spring equinox (March 20th), called Candlemas Day or Imbolc in older traditions (Groundhog Day for us). It is a hopeful month. We have seen the earnest signs of spring elsewhere- in bird song filling the winter silence, pale yellow coloration on the willow trees, does with their fawns strolling in the woods- and we trust that Nature knows just what she is doing; how could we not...