The Renovating Reverend

For centuries, the spring equinox has been a time for sowing seeds and celebrating a time of regeneration, new growth. In some places and religions, it has also been a time of purification with an intention of starting life anew. We had a few inches of snow last night, which covered up the crocus that had just started to bloom, and could seem to delay the arrival of more spring growth, but I’ve learned that even a late snow can be a helpful part of spring and hint at the hope of warmth and growth to come.

A good part of our yard was torn up when the dead trees and broken down chain link fence were removed last fall. Then the guys who did the work on the fascia and trim last month left some ruts behind, from positioning their large, diesel powered lift. I spent some time over the past few days attempting to rake those ruts out of the damp soil before the snow flew. We’d like to grow grass over that area of the yard until we’re ready to landscape it, a few years from now. I had thought we’d need hold off on the grass seed, at least until we approached the last frost date, which, for us, is the first week of May. Turns out we didn’t really have to wait that long. My husband remembers hearing old farmers talk about scattering grass seed on top of the last spring snow. In this way, the seed would “melt” down into the soil, make good contact with it, and have some moisture to help it germinate. Especially since the temperature is going to go back up into the fifties this week, this made good sense. This morning, Steve pulled on his rubber boots and slopped through the melting mess, scattering the grass seed. It is seed that will eventually help bring grassy cohesion and growth to the bare landscape.

Feeling as though a fresh start, warmth, and growth are just out of reach? They might be much closer than you think.