Our mail-order seeds have started arriving in the mail.

That just gets me antsy to get out in the garden. It is at least a month away from the time to plant onions and leeks inside, and about two months from when Nancy and I will be planting anything. But I did spend some time in the cellar checking out the grow lights, making sure they will work when needed.

On Sunday, waiting for the Super Bowl to start, I went outside to restack a wood pile, vacuum the cars, chop some ice out of the driveway. I really didn't accomplish anything, but it wasn't cold and I was just sick of being inside, and I got to breathe the fresh air.

I don't believe any of the Groundhog Day myths about seeing shadows and winter ending. Everyone in Maine knows that winter is nowhere near over on Feb. 2. But Groundhog Day is halfway between the winter solstice and spring equinox, and we do have an hour more sunlight than we did at Christmas. We're making progress.

I got to indulge in a little bit of my plant geekiness in Sunday's column.

I had received a press release that Wood Prairie Farm had received a Green Thumb Award from the Mailorder Gardening Association for its introduction of the Prairie Blush potato.

That was interesting, but I wanted to know the process you go through to create a plant introduction. Jim Gerritsen, the owner of Wood Prairie Farm, filled me in.
I probably had as much fun doing that column as I have any other. And that means something.

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