Not once in January was I tempted to begin working on chores that must  be accomplished sometime before spring growth commences. Several times each week I’ve scurried through the garden to catch up on the few blooms and swelling buds, but I’ve hardly stopped for a moment to pull a weed or to pick up one of the innumerable twigs that are strewn about.

While temperatures have not been bitterly cold, they have not been pleasant either, so I’ve been content to watch bluejays and cardinals bicker over sunflower seeds from the warmth of the kitchen. Fortunately, there is nothing critical to be done in mid winter, and even the crop of winter weeds that have been so abundant in recent years are more sparse and less worrisome. Certainly, the fewer weeds has nothing to do with preventative measures taken on my part since I delayed pulling these until long after seeds had been set and deposited early last spring. Once temperatures begin to warm a bit there’s little doubt the weeds will get going, but that’s a concern for another day.

I suspect that the numbers will show that January was colder than average, though there was no severe cold, and nothing to cause concern for the gardener. I would prefer more hospitable temperatures and fewer days of snow and sleet, but now that it is February those days should be around the corner. And then, there is work to be done.