The calendar creeped past the ides of February as daytime temperatures flirt with the 60s and nighttime temperatures claw at the freezing point. While watching the bees emerge from their winter huddle in significant numbers allows me to breath an optimistic sigh, I know full well that in my climate, March can still be brutal enough to snuff out some of my colonies.

But day-length is the key to my garden’s revival. As I remove the inner layer of cover in my hoop house the tiny spinach plants that I established many weeks ago have clearly taken root and are starting to grow. They’ll now need to be watered, regularly.

Outside, some garlic shoots that popped through the earth ahead of schedule before being covered with ice and snow stand strong and defiant as the snow recedes. I can almost feel the methodical watering of my blueberry bushes and asparagus plants as I watched the white blanket become shallower and melt away. Dare I hope that the crocuses will soon pop up? I know that the bees will be searching for their flowers.