Remembering spring

2013 = THIRTY YEARS OF JOY

KISHEGY HAS BEEN WITH US SINCE 1983

There is always something calm and peaceful about a winter garden, full of snow...

I realized I did not write much during these past few weeks. The reason is that we have not been back to the garden much. Mom says that right now, there is half a meter of snow in the garden. This means that the one right now is probably one of the thickest snow blankets the garden has ever had. Calm and peaceful it is - there is nothing one can do about it, and that is the way it should be. Nature took over, asking for a little time. 

Mom also says that we have many birds who come to feed on the seeds they put out for them in the feeders.

Two days ago even a cardinal appeared (my favourite). We have never had them in the garden. (I hope that this is a good sign - less disturbance, less pesticides? I hope so.)

I can only imagine how the cardinal's bright red color shows against the crystalline white of the snow...

People often think it is boring to be in a garden during wintertime. Nothing is farther from the truth. It is far from boring: it is a time for being inside, resting, contemplating and ... working. Re-arrange drawers, look at book collections, invite friends from Kishegy to watch a film together and have dinner, play cards with family members, create a new tablecloth one always wanted to do, but during gardening time there was just never enough time. Let the cats inside to feel their furry coat for a while, look into their eyes trying to figure them out... especially "my friend, Dzsidzsó" (Jinx), our very first one.

And under the heavy blanket of snow, somehow, there is life. It is just there, waiting. I hope the yellow tulips are getting their strength together for the time when Easter comes (very early this year) we will enjoy their brilliant yellow after entering the gate. I can only hope that as the experienced vegetable gardeners at Kishegy told me, the 63 lettuce plants that are now resting peacefully under the snow will somehow make it in the spring and do not freeze to death. 

I never succeeded with lettuce so far. I told this to the neighbor ladies, they looked at me and just laughed (they normally give THEIR lettuces in the spring as presents, probably feeling sorry for the us, city folk (we have had the garden for 30 years.) They nevertheless look very appreciative when we do succeed in having some vegetables - last year it was green beans, the year before tomatoes. I also just had a funny feeling that they gave me the plants not only because they are nice people, but also because they wanted to see whether I make it through the back-breaking job of planting all 63 of them... I did! (It almost did break my back. And thinking that the ladies are minimum 25-30 years older than me... and they have minimum a hundred or more lettuce plants planted in their garden, for sure).

Any gardener's nightmare is another plant, the dandelion. Nevertheless, kids love them as they first turn bright yellow then into white mini clouds they can blow away, transforming them into tiny parachutists. I am just wondering how many we will have this year. Last year, no matter how hard we cut the grass and the dandelions' heads off (sorry, plant protecters, but grass is important, too) we had extensive fields of bright yellow in the spring. 

They look absolutely stunning and then not-so-amazing once they start to turn into white puffs. But that is a different story. Right now, while remembering the snowy landscape of Kishegy, the dandelions seem almost unreal....

Older countrymen say that there is a time for everything. And this is really comforting to know, waiting for spring in Budapest's winter.

Budapest, thinking about Kishegy (SmallHill)