By Rainy
It is now spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Spring is my favorite season because all the plants come back to life, the weather becomes more pleasant and the farmer’s markets start to open. Not only is it a good time to clean house but also great to start new projects that you can’t do in the winter. Canning, gardening and cooking with fresh ingredients are reasons to get excited about the growing seasons to come.
Winter survivors
Late Febuary, I was already moving around pots on my porch left over from the fall. I was able to revive some plants in a hanging basket that survived our mild Seattle winter. I have been watering them and they have even grown a bit. It feels good to get everything ready for when the frost has past. Gardening flowers and herbs is therapeutic and gives me a relaxing outdoor activity.
Early March the produce stand, Yakama Fruit Market in Bothell, opens. It is on my commute from work so it is nice to stop in and grab some fresh fruits and veggies for dinner. But it is not really the spring growing season for me until the local Asparagus arrives. Here in Washington they tend to be beefier produce and the green light for the race to cook and consume as much produce as possible.
Sleepy lazy dog yawning
Spring is also the time to start shedding the winter pounds. Our family, including the dog, often put on a few during the winter’s hibernation. Once the days get longer is feels less inviting to spend the day sleeping and eating fatty meals. I have begun spring by eating healthier, replacing chips with carrot and celery sticks, preparing fresh deli sandwiches, and adding homemade yogurt with fruit and honey. Food is the one thing that each individual can fully control. Other than babies, people always have a choice about what goes in your mouth. Children often use food as a control over their parents to make statements, refusing certain foods or going on short hunger strikes. This just shows that making decisions to skip fast food restaurants and eat more local veggies can impact more in your daily life then most give credit for.
I hope that others feel this season is a good time to be conscious of what you consume and how you interact with you local community.
Do it Yourself from Scratch 
Spring does bring out the urge to get moving and to eat healthier.
I just discovered two empty hanging baskets from last year – one in the garage and one outside next to the green yard waste bin. I might try planting some young flowers in them instead of buying more expensive hanging baskets that already have flowers in them.
Mom
If you are going to put the effort into saving them all winter, might as well get some use out of them. I have seen some beautiful primroses and pansies at the hardware store that would look good in an old pot.
Yea Rainiy. I love to hear you describe that lifestyle. I’ve been very invovled with our local co-op for three years which as you probablyknow advocates for eating fresh and local…..is there a co-op near you? or an online ordering system?
Around here I you can order a weekly box of produce from local farmers. It is a bit pricey for us at the moment. I should look into co-ops though.