Spring

We've had what can only be called weird weather - even for Minnesota.  A virtually nonexistent winter, with little snow & far above normal temperatures.  Now spring is coming early as well.  The soil temperatures indicate that we should uncover the strawberries as soon as the ground is dry enough to get the tractors in the fields - a good two weeks ahead of normal.  Tomatoes are growing - in a greenhouse and not in our back bedroom this year (thank goodness) - and will be ready to plant in the hoop houses on April 1.  Farmer Bill and his helper have been pruning the apple trees all winter because they weren't hampered by snow or cold, and that job is on schedule.  Machinery is being pulled out of buildings, oil checked, fittings greased, bolts tightened, tires filled.  The robins are back & Farmer Bill saw a bald eagle last week.  I'm keeping my eyes open for the bluebirds, expecting them any time now.  Some much needed rain has fallen over the past few days and the grass is turning green.  The elms have sprouted tiny leaves and the maples are almost done blossoming.  All normal spring events that just feel weird when they happen in mid-March rather than the first of April.
City dwellers rejoice in the beautiful weather that lets them shed their coats and boots, eat al fresco, and feel the sun on their skins again.  We eye the early warm weather more warily.  An early bloom on the strawberries and the apples can mean the blossoms will be out and susceptible if we have a late frost.  And there has been a late frost pretty much every year here.  Often the frosts are not even noticeable in the city - even a rural city like Faribault.  But late frosts mean nights without sleep as Farmer Bill runs the irrigation sprinklers over the strawberries.  Farmer Bill doesn't have any real frost protection for the apples at this point.  Overhead sprinklers are not an option with trees, and the wind machines available are not economically viable for an operation of his size.  Nutritional foliar sprays help, and Farmer Bill will prepare his air-blast sprayer to drive up and down the orchard rows, moving the air and keeping the blossoms wet.  You do what you can do, and hope that it's enough.  Another farming year is upon us.