What to Do When It’s Spring But Winter Doesn’t Get It The issue of climate to me is not whether it is warmer or colder. It just seems longer to me. I am tired of each season well before the next season arrives. The seasons are no longer obeying their boundaries and have begun to slide into each other. This winter is a prime example as it refuses to go quietly into that good night.
I thought about what to do during winter’s borrowed time. I remember one March month in the nineties when I had completed all of my fencing by the end of March. That was a very early year however that is not going to happen this year. I did think of a few things I could do to productively occupy myself.
First off, March is pretty much the sweet spot for trimming trees in Minnesota. The ground is as frozen as it is going to be and the trees are as dormant as they will be prior to spring. Don’t prune oak trees when beetles are forming as they can pass the fungus that causes oak wilt. Beatles form during the months of April, May and June. The low-risk time for beetles begins mid-July. The period of safe pruning for oak trees is November through March. March is also a good time to prune most trees including fruit trees. Lilacs should not be pruned until they bloom. The dead flowers should then be cut off but leave them alone for now.
My nephew was cleaning his shop this week. I told him it reminded me of the advice my dad, his grandfather, had received from his FFA instructor back in the 1940s. He had told my dad’s classroom that when the weather prevented outdoor work, they should, ”clean their shop or paint their wagon. Above all, they should stay out of the beer parlor.” Timeless advice on how to spend your down time.
Cattle farmers may want to consider an upcoming opportunity to improve their pasture, frost seeding. This method of incorporating clover seed into standing pasture seems to have gained more acceptance over time. I have used it myself several times and have been happy with the results.
The method isn’t much different from what I have seen deer hunters use to plant deer plots. Some simply spread seed into a small area of land and hope for enough rain to cause germination.
Frost seeding is different in that you spread the seed in the spring during the freeze/thaw season. I typically wait for high temperatures in the forties during the day and lows in the twenties to frost seed.
The soil movement caused by freezing and thawing incorporates the hard, tough clover seed. The portion of seed which germinates then improves the quality of pasture both in the forage it presents and the fixed nitrogen it shares with pasture grasses.
Perhaps planning and reflection are not only an indulgence but some needed self-therapy during that transition from winter to spring to winter to spring and finally... winter to spring. The planning gives you hope and the reflection gives you perspective. Take heart, spring will soon arrive, I think.
