Patience

    Kathy and I had done some planting of a few cold weather plants such as lettuce and onions in the gardens the first week of this month and the weather was warm and beautiful. We had gone to Home Depot for some potting mix and a few other small supplies and noticed tomato plants and other warm weather vegetables being put on the shelves. I commented that it was pretty early for those plants and Kathy agreed but also noted that eager gardeners would probably buy and plant them since the weather was so nice. I agreed and we headed home to do some planting knowing full well that we might have to cover our plants with a floating row cover to keep them from getting nipped by the frost. I have to admit that I was also getting that planting bug, as I turned over soil and smelled fresh earth I felt a twinge of urgency about getting more in the ground.
    There is an old farmers guide to planting in New England and Connecticut in particular that no warm weather plants such as tomatoes, squash, cucumbers and the like shouldn't be put in the ground until after the last full moon in May. There is certainly a validity to this guide and when the weather seems warm enough and the ground workable it serves as a warning to resist the urge to be impatient. We live in a society of instant gratification, where faster is better and the slow moving are left to the wayside. We have microwave meals, fast food restaurants, drive through coffee lines and we rate our experience based on how fast our wants are satisfied. Farming is different, farming requires patience something that we are quickly losing touch with today. Patience once considered a virtue is being replaced by convenience and instant gratification. When you are in touch with your little plot of land and you watch the angle of the sun and the effect of the rain on the soil you learn patience. You patiently watch for the signs that its time to plant and you wait and wait and wait. You learn to wait when you want to plow forward, when you want to till, plant and reap in the same instant.
    This past Wednesday made me thankful for the patience we have learned. After a day and evening of much needed rain the weather turned colder Tuesday night. Weathermen talked of snow in the northwest hills and I had taken some comfort that this weather wouldn't likely affect us in the southeast part of the state. I walked down the stairs after arising Wednesday morning and saw a covering of granulated ice and snow covering the ground, the lettuce in pots and the onions in the garden and I thought about those old farmer guidelines and took comfort that we had adhered to them. There were probably some tomato plants purchased the day we saw them and most likely other plants that shouldn't have been were put in the ground. No matter since more can be bought again and paid for again and that will the cost of impatience. We want to get planting, we want to get things growing but we have learned patience and we will wait until the  last full moon in May so that we may reap what we have so patiently waited to plant.