Horned Larks, Potting Soil, & Onion Seeds: March 2015

Every year, on the first Monday in March, we fire up our greenhouse and begin planting onion seeds.

Horned Lark. Photo Credit: Ben Wilson

It is always such a rush, that first day back in the greenhouse!  It’s usually cold and snow-covered outside, but inside the greenhouse is a promising universe, reminding you with its soil-y pungency that spring will arrive.

The flu has cursed our house for the last 10 days. First the 2 year old; now the 5 year old.  So despite my great anticipation of running my hands through soil and helping with the first seeding of the year, I stayed inside with a sick kiddo (day 10 and running).

At lunch time, however,  I took the dog out for a little romp in the fields.  I was feeling a little bummed about missing one of my favorite days of the year, when all the sudden I heard the call.  It’s a bird, who just as steady as our greenhouse calendar, always shows up in early March.  The horned lark. (click here for a quick youtube video to hear the call.)

Just five or six calls was enough, and my entire mood changed.  Despite my missing the onion planting, I was experiencing one of the other dependable joys of this time of year! The return of the horned lark.  I associate its call with the opposing sensations of snow outside and warm soil in the inside of a greenhouse.  I couldn’t help but smile and smile.

Willa (the dog) and I crossed over a final snow drift by the hoophouse and then clamored into the greenhouse together.  For just a few brief minutes I basked in the humid smell of soil.  Mike laughed at me as I shoved my face into a full seeding flat, just to breathe in the delicious smell of dirt.

Horned larks, potting soil, & onion seeds. Let the 2015 growing season begin!