Spring is almost here!

I can feel it in the wind and in the increasing storms. :)

I've sent off my soil sample to the appropriate location -- well, technically my husband did but I was the one who collected the sample so maybe I should say "we"? Maybe so. We have sent off our soil sample. We are looking forward to the results.

However, I still have to get the lettuce and onions planted this week. I'll have to look at my gardening journal to see what else needs to go in the ground (spinach maybe?). It's pretty crucial here in Texas to start them now so they won't wither and die in the summer sun. I think I'm too late for snapdragons. We'll see.

I've been reading the companion book for Frontier House, a series on PBS that tossed three families into 1880s Montana homesteading. The book has some amazing information that's helped me in my homemaking. Last year, when I was trying to garden, I was also trying to sew, and finish up (later prep) for homeschooling, and a whole host of other things. One of the things that stood out at me was the rhythm of these items, seasonally. Here's what I gathered from what I read that applies to my situation

• Spring: a time of planting/sowing, deep cleaning and organizing (including emergency supplies), time to wrap up items left over from winter.
  
• Summer: lots of time spent in the garden weeding and caring for it (not to mention yardwork).
• Fall: time to preserve (this has probably kind of been going on all summer but this is the final push before winter), time to make sure the emergency plans and supplies are in place, fixing up and organizing house/yard for winter, time to wind down and focus on schooling the kids.
• Winter: Time to focus on school and sewing (most of the sewing will be done during this time period). Winter, in general, seems to be a time of turning inward as this is when there's time to make plans for the next year.

I like that schedule. It looks much more balanced than last year. We'll see if it saves me time and sanity in 2009.